Minneapolis spokesman. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1960-04-22
IzatiOn, Americas Negroes made
amazing strides

Z8CAon, Amortc8s NoBrOoS mooo
amazing strides
Negroes realized by now that he
who would be free must first deS-
troy the basic enemy Of freedom
-ignorance-so the thirst for edu-
cation became a burgeoning force
among them. Since 1910, the num-
Der of Negroes in colleges and pro-
fessional schools has tripled to
more than 100000 today. There
are ten times as many Negro
students of engineering and archi-
lecture as two decades ago, and
they are highly sought by the ma
tons leading land most enlight-
ened) firms. The percentage of
US. Negroes in college is greater
than the percentage Of ALL the
people Of Great Britain in college
no trifling indicator of education
al progress for a people whose
blood" was deemed 50 Supplying
so years ago that one drop was
supposed to put out the light Of
intellect.
Despite unabating cries of un-
welcome, the Negro (hke his
white counterpart) continued to
abandon rural life, with the result
that today only one Negro in
eight lives on a farm. Whereas the
vast majority Of Negroes lived in
the South half a century ago, to-
day more than a third of the ma
TONS colored citizens are in cities
of the North and West. And they
are quickly adopting city stand
ards: home ownership among Ne
groes was rare in 1910, but today
more than one Negro family out
Of three owns its residence.
The employment picture Is
drasticaIIy improved over 1910.
In the nations capital, still n
citadel Of Jim Crow not many
years ago, the Negro now holds
one of every four government
jObs-and one supervisory post
Of every six.
Unlike the painful period fol-
lowing World War I, Negroes held
on in every segment of industry
where they gained jobs during
World War II. Today's White Cit.
liens Councils have not been able
to do what the Khan did IN the
1905 As the Negro matured, ap-
parenuy. 50 did the white Amer
lean
In short, a sizeable Negro mid
die class" has emerged, and II
now fleXes the sinews of economic
and political strength, the two
most respected forces in current
American life. The struggle Is still
uphill, the path still spotted with
a lot Of tears and a little blood
but today, wherever power il
welded, there are Negroes to
whom white men listen with a new
measure Of respect.
The most significant change may
be that the war against racial
injustice no longer Is merely the
struggle Of the Urban League, OF
of the National Association for the
Advancement Of Colored People
which fought a parallel 50-yeal
battle to sweep away the lega
barriers that blocked action By
men Of decent impulse. There Il
not a major urban area outside
the South, and few in the South
without some official or quasi.
official organization charged will
the task Of helping Negroes-anc
whites-to overcome the barrierI
Of racial passion.
The paradox, Of course, IL thai
despite the fantastic changes Of
the last half century, the conflicts
and CONSERVATION surrounding tho
urban Negro are most intense
more complex, more demanding Of
organized approaches to solutions
than ever before. For one reason
the Negro is demanding more thar
he did so years ago. This SHOULD
surprise no thoughtful person, fol-
all Of human history tells US thai
men who have tasted freedom fight
for a full measure Of it with q
thousand times the fervor Of alb,
ject slaves. Secondly, there Is to,
day the pressure Of sheer numbers
In the minds Of many white men
freedom is bearable for one blach
man, intolerable for more than q
few.
And the fact Of life today Is
that the migratiOns Of 1910 were
Paltry when compared, for ex-
ample, with the fact that Chi
cagO had an increase Of 227,OOO
nOn-white residents between 1910
and 195O-Or when we consider
the fact that New York City