HARLEM RIOTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 October 1943, Page 4

HARLEM RIOTS

AND AMERICA’S NEGRO PROBLEM NEED OF ENLIGHTENED POLICY BASIC CAUSES BEHIND UNREST (By Robert M. Hallett, in the “Christian Science Monitor.” Either America must make still greater progress in its efforts to give the Negro a place in modern society merited by his capabilities and character or expect further outbreaks of the Negro against his political and economic subjugation. What happened in Harlem recently gives point to this view. Walking through Harlem the day following the recent disturbances, picking my way through blocks of broken plate glass. wrecked property and goods strewn around the streets and sidewalks, I could not fail to note the prevalent feeling of tension. Groups of Negroes were gathered together, muttering among themselves. The presence of more than 8,000 policemen, firemen, air-raid wardens, (City Patrol Corps members, and volunteer Negro guards did nothing to dissipate the apparent anger of the Negroes; it merely restrained the unruly elements from further pillaging and acts of mob temper. The riotous thoughts | are still there and cannot be suppressed by force, but must be treated by removing their causes. A factor that helps to check widespread eruption of ill-feeling or outright violence throughout the country is that Negro leaders know such action hinders progress of their race. The writer heard many Negroes say the outbreaks had put them back 20 years. SEGREGATION CUSTOMS The war has not of itself caused this fermentation among the Negro people throughout the country. It has only accelerated the process, for the basic causes behind all the outbursts would exist, war or no war. The underlying disturbing factor is the strong belief—constantly reiterated by certain racial leaders —of undue discrimination, social and economic. An immediate aggravation is the high cost of living, including rents, in the Negro districts. Also, Northern Negro soldiers who have found it difficult to conform to Southern customs of segregation have caused acute dissatisfaction by their reports at home and some disturbances in Southern towns. On the other hand, many Negro soldiers entering the armed services find in their encampments food, conveniences, and treatment better than any they received at home and, growing accustomed to these conditions, feel a certain amount of dissatisfaction on returning to Harlem or other Negro slum districts. Then, too, there are disturbing elements within the Negro community in New York and elsewhere who, by word of mouth or through newspapers, pamphlets, or other publications, deliberately fan the discontent of their people. In their slave state, when they were purposely kept illiterate, the Negroes suffered centuries-long oppression with no very serious outbreaks against their masters. But today with education reaching ever greater numbers of them with its message of the freedom of the individual, his importance in a democratic society, they are becoming increasingly restive. Living in slums of the worst sort and paying exorbitant prices for food and rent (in Harlem at least), they are becoming more insistent on what they denominate “equal rights.” MOVEMENT OF BLIND PROTEST The recent Harlem disturbances did not constitute a race riot or an outbreak against the whites —except as a few innocent visitors were beaten up here or there or the efforts of policemen resisted. Rather, the hoodlums — always the underprivileged element — by their very acts of storebreaking and robbery proved they were protesting, in the only way they knew how, against a system that has kept the Negro shackled to the foot of the American social and economic ladder. , 4 It is not possible to fix blame on any one class of white persons for the continued subjection of the Negro. Employers too often bear the brunt of such criticism and although they are not without blame, some of the most serious discrimination against the Negro is practised by unions, particularly American Federation of Labour units in the West Coast shipbuilding yards. American progress is not furthered merely by snuffing out the sparks of disorder as they appear over the Nation, but by slowly and carefully rendering inflammable racial emotions non-combustible through the application of wise and cautious measures to better the lot of the Negro. This cannot come overnight, but it is high time to make a start. In the meantime, agitators who seek to overturn the natural social customs of long standing will do well to temper their demands. They should concentrate, rather, on obtaining equal economic and educational opportunities for their race, while insisting that the Negro himself assume a responsibility through personal improvement and the attainment of higher standards, mentally and morally.