Minneapolis spokesman. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1960-04-22

Negroes laughed and sang but
down deep in their hearts they
longed for fuller freedom.
Even in slavery time the Negro
hoped and prayed for freedom. The
idea that the Negro was happy in
slavery Is simply a Pigment in
the imagination Of the oppressors
to assuage a scared conscience.
II the Negro were 50 happy with
his slavery why did Reuter- say
in his The American Race Prob
lem, that Negroes revolted in div
ers parts Of the South on the aver
age Of once every seven years d?
Did the Communist inspire the
Nat Turner rebellion Of 1881 and
the lesser rebellions?
Did the Communists inspire the
Phoenix riots where the Negroes
tried to fight their way to the
ballot box? Did the Communists
inspire the underground railroad
that attempted to siphon slaves
to a free land?
Did Communists inspire the
Negro sOngster with the melody
Before IN be a slave TN be
buried In my grave etc.?
OF course the Negrophobe press
Is quite willing to conclude that
Moses was communist inspired
when he was trying to get Old
Pharoh to let Gods people go. Or
what Is just as absurd to conclude
that when the Colonists took up
arms at Bunker Hill and Patrick
Henry caught on fire when he
made his immortal Liberty or
Death speech at historic st. Johns
in Richmond, they were Commun-
list inspired.
Tfsre u soEneNning about the
human heart that rebels against
oppression. This rebellion has been
one Of the greatest blessings known
to mankind. And that the Negroes
along with other oppressed peoples
refused to be satisfied with any
thing short of life liberty and pur-
suit Of happiness rebounds to the
glory of mankind.
Negro unrest Il far older than
the current communism.
The current wave Of unrest
dramatized by the sit-down move
ment Is but the expression Of the
Negroes part in a world unrest
manifested by oppressed peoples
everywhere; and the fact that Ne
groes share this unrest augurs well
for Negroes and the nation and the
world
So then we ask who really In
inspiring unrest In Negroes?
Answer, the white man with his
life, liberty and pursuit Of hap
piness.
Why the white man can dangle
before the colored peoples, the en-
ticing prospect Of the fun free life
and expect the non-whites to be
satisfied with less Ii one Of the
Lesser wonders Of the world. The
writer knows Of nothing more
brutal than to eat before q starv-
ing man-dangling food In his face.
When the writer was In the
palace of Versailles some years
ago he visited the gallery where
hungry Frenchmen could gather
on occasion from the countrysides
and sit and watch the king eat
turkey. People who had never had
a good meal were privileged" to
see their king eat turkey.
But Frenchmen put an end to
the shame. They protested and
something was finally done about
II. The people wanted turkey too.
It is even 80 in this country and
in other lands, the current unrest
Is the peoples way Of letting the
world know that they want turkey
too.
Instead Of trying TO trace the
current unrest back to some com
munist origin, 1t would be MORE
profitable to trace the inspiration
of race prejudice. Who inspired
segregation with its discrimina-
tons and brutalities and its de-
gredation? Who inspired the
Black Laws Of the South 50 brilh-
antly described by June Purcell
Guild, a white woman of letters?
Who inspired the peonage sys-
tenn Of the South which is one Of
the moral blights Of current his
tory? Who inspired the idea Of
rushing Negroes to the front in
times of war and rushing them to
D..o AD-,I % Nor.vay Han