St. Paul recorder., 1963-10-10
ISSUES: GOOD
AND BAD
BY P. L. PRATTIS


ETY.? Is 1t the fault of the Negro?
Gould he by greater industry, more
education and dedication to the
concept Of lifting ones self by
ones own boot straps, have won
greater acceptance and recognition
of his status as an equal citizen
or equal human being?
Or is the greater share of the
fault to be laid at the door of the
American white man? Has he
stood in the way of the Negro's
natural growth? Z
Has he been determined to stunt
that growth and to foster the con-
cept that the Negro is an unequal
human being? Would Negroes
have been able to win full ac-
ceptance if the white man had not
handicapped him in so many diff
ferent ways? .
Are whites fair when they con-
tend that Negroes must learn to
be more responsible and pay heed
to the fact that duties and rights
come in the same package?
The foregoing questions are not
easy to answer. There are many
successful Negroes (by American
standards - which mean acquisi-
ton of money! who will blame the
Negro himself for failure to keep
UP with other Americans. Whites
like to exhibit these successful Ne
groes to. prove that there is moth
ing to hinder the Negro, that If
he has the stuff in him, he can be
successful (acquire money! like
others have done.
I think there can be no greater
illusion than the foregoing. I am
prepared to say that Negroes
should have done so per cent, even
100 per cent better than they have
done. But when I make this con-
ceSsion, still don't believe that
they would have won the accept
ance and recognition they deserve.
They would still have been stereo-
typed.
The blame for the Negroes
status in American society must
be attributed to the American
white man, just as the white
man must be given credit for
at least so per cent Of the pro-
gress Negroes have made during
the last 100 years.
AS I have often written before,
hand and what is in it, is the basis
of wealth. While Negroes were
still slaves, whites were acquiring
title to some three million square
miles of land. Huge chunks of land
were given free to railroads which
in turn sold the land at the cheap
est possible rates ($1.25 an acre.
to whites.
In other instances, squatters ac.
quired land by merely squatting
on it. AS the population of this
country grew and large SETTLE
ments Of people grew upon or
around this cheap land, it became
more and more valuable. In the
course of time, the value of this
land became basic capital which
was invested in industry.
Thus whites had acquired 80
and 44/1OOths of the land before
Negroes became citizens. Whites
had the capital then and they
still have it. Negroes have never
held any large percentage of the
land. Therefore, they have lacked
capital. without capital, you're
bound to stay at the bottom
rung of the ladder. Where Ne
grOes have some capital, as in
Atlanta, Georgia, and Durham,
North Carolina, they are able to
make that capital speak for
them.
But all the capital they might
acquire will not change what is in
the average white mans mind and
heart about Negroes. The Jewish
people who stand beside us in our
struggle toward freedom know
this.
There are more millionaires per
capita among Jews than among
any other segment of our popula-
ton - and there are more scholars
also. But this has not wiped out
ani-Semitism. The Jews have done
all the things they say Negroes
have not done, but nasty pre-
judice against the Jews still ex-
lists.
God Is going TO lessen prejudice
against Negroes, generation by
generation, but it's going to take
even him more than 200 wears.