STUDY IN BLACK AND WHITE

White Ribbon, Volume 22, Issue 11, 1 February 1951, Page 6

STUDY IN BLACK AND WHITE

VICTORIA GRIGG. M.A. It would !)>’ rash for one, who, like myself, had i. stay of a few months’ duration in U.S.A., to venture to pronounce judgment on the negro problem. 1 can but write of my own impressions and experiences. My contact with negro teachers and my attendance, through their co-operation, at part tf the annual conference of the National Council of Negro Women, stand out among the memories of a world tour packed full of interesting events

At this point I would pay a sincere tribute to members of the Washington D.C Branch of the Federation of University Women, as without their action I would not have made these contacts. Membership of the International Federation of University Women is supposed to be regardless of race and creed, but until recently no negro graduates had been members of the Washington Branch. 1 he application for membership from the negro wife of a negro judge, backed by the support of a number of members, caused a real and painful upheaval in the Branch. Though the lady was admitted, twothirds of the membership resigned. The numbers are now back to half, and among these are some forty negro graduates holding the highest qualifications. I heard the President of the American Association of l Diversity Women say that she had gone round the world recently with her head held high on account of the action of the Washington Branch. I met my negro friends at a Branch meeting, and visited their school, a large junior co-ed high school ot i,400 pupils, ages 12 to 17 years. The Principal was a man, and the Vice-Princi-pal one of my friends. I was taken round classes, such as cookery, dressmaking, 'icienre, commercial and art. and was given an excellent lunch in the school cafeteria, which was in charge of a domestic science specialist. I was also taken over Howard University, and the medical school there gets its clinical material at a large negro hospital not far away. Facilities in Washington for the education of negro people were good, much better than in many other parts of the United States. Annual Conference The Annual Conference of the National Council of Negro Women was a revelation to me. The retirin g President, Mrs. Mary Bethune, aged 76, was typically African in appearance, voice and manner. She was a real contrast to the Treasurer, a doctor, the wife of a dentist, who looked more white than coloured to me, and was a charming, cultured lady. Delegates were present from all jver U.S.A., the colours in all shades from black to white, and I think nearly all with de-kinked hair. Some would pass for white. All were there with one desire; to get the best in education and living

coi ditifiis for their race, and to make a contribution to the world.

I was interviewed .by a woman reporter, who was covering the conference tor her paper, the “Pittsborough Courier,’’ owned by a negro woman, and with the largest negro circulation in U.S.A.

Pictures of negro life and specimens of negro magazines were on display in the vestibule and a!sn a large collection of UNO and UNESCO literature. The great night of the Conference was that when the speakers were President Truman, Mrs. Pandit, the Indian Ambassador, and Or, Ralph Bundle. Present by invitation were representatives of over forty embassies. The following night 1 heard Mrs. Bethune say that she had walked on air, and that she had felt the contrast between such an occasion and her childhood, as the daughter of slave parents, to have been too much for mere words. She said that she was proud of her negro women, as they sat there so well dressed. Y.W.C.A. My negro teacher friends were more than kind to me. They entertained ine in their homes, at negro restaurants and once at. the very good restaurant attached to the negro Y.W.C.A. The Y.W.C.A. was obviously well used, though it;* appointments were not as good as those in two white Y.W.C.A.’s at which 1 stayed iti Washington and Chicago. 1 took pleasure in seeing the coloured girls with their boy friends at tlie Y.W.C.A. and there was no doubt that it was performing a most valuable service. I was shocked by wbat I saw and heard of housing conditions in Harlem, New York, where lia4 a million negroes are crowded into absolutely inadequate space. A constant inHux of Puerto Ricans lias made this situation continually the worse. At concerts in New York 1 saw many handsome negro couples, and 1 remember seeing a primary school visiting the Central Park Zoo with little white and negro children hand in hand. In the North, conditions are fairly good, anil they go to Universities on equal terms with white people. The snag here is to obtain equal treatment after graduating. In the Southern States the colour har is obvious. The fear the South lias for the negro appears to arise from the way he has been -.reated in the past, and the thought that if lie should get the ‘upper hand” he would retaliate. Yet the negro is outnumbered as a whole iti the country by ten to one, and three to one in the South, so that it does not appear that he could ever gel the “upper hand.” Then there is the C*ar of intermingling and inter-marriage. 1 met many of mixed bloods. They had wide circles of friends among their own but always the feeling that they could not do certain things. The career of Dr. Ralph Bundle is a great source of pride to these people. Implications of Christianity There is the fear of the complete practice of democracy (as set forth in

the Constitution) and the fear of the full implications of Christianity. Christian leaders in the South are alive to these fears, and seek to combat them. They urge their folk to avoid jokes that belittle coloured people, address them as Mr. and Mrs., and get acquainted with some on an informal, friendly basis. Local churches are asked to make occasional exchanges of pulpits and choirs, to invite coloured group leaders, to give addresses on topics other than race relations, to encourage mutual assistance groups for maintenance work in Churches, joint ministerial conferences, and mutual discussions on social matters, such a* housing, education, health, government, employment, moral and spiritu.il improvement.

Church members are urged to be willing for negroes to have in actuality all the rights granted them by the Constitution, to protest against all injustices and indignities against the negroes, to teach their children that racial prejudice is un-Christian and to ensure that the negro is given justice in employment. A great Christian leader, Dr. Mavo, is urging Southerners to carry out these rules, and state* that to do so they must have a stronger faith in tiod, a faith that it they sincerely do their part, tLey can confidently leave the results in God’s hands. DR. RALPH BUNCHE The celebrated Nobel Peace Prize is awarded each year to the person or society that has done the greatest service in promoting peace and international understanding. This last year, 19:0, for the first time the award has been made to a negro. Dr. Ralph Buncbe, referred to in the article ‘‘A Study in Black and White,” was chosen from the 28 nominees, amongst whom were such people as Winston Churchill. President Truman and Bandit Nehru.