Honolulu Record, August 16, 1951, vol. 4 no.3, p. 8
By Frank Marshall Davis
Give Ear to our Critics
Instead of pinning the label of "communism" on virtually all adverse" criticism and tossing it into the ashcan, it would pay our leaders to give ear and evaluate such criticism purely on its merits. We are a considerable distance away from perfection; that being so, there is room for improvement in our way of life.
These comments" are the result of a letter published recently in the Christian Science Monitor by Seyd Mohammed Sarodio, who said he was going back home to Jakarta, Java, after spending six years in America. Sarodio is a non-white and, as such, views the U. S. through the eyes of a colored man. He is also one of the many millions of non-whites who are the victims of discrimination while they are being told hypocritically that our democracy is the best thing in the whole world.
"You Are a Fanatically Racial People"
Hitting directly at bur established doctrine of white supremacy, Sarodio said to America in his letter:
"You are self-righteous and talk too much about ideals. You are a fanatically racial people, and do not like anyone of a different color. This prejudice is so "deep and pervasive that it expresses itself in business, in schools, in social parties, in politics, in industrial and labor life, and even in churches.
"Your values are different. These values are reflected in your manners, which are crude; in the home life, which is strained and full of divorces, and in a loose sex life."
Point Four Program "Is Just Another Trick"
White is always right, says Sarodio. This doctrine of white supremacy causes America to support "white imperialism" and the exploitation of colored peoples, and the brown man from Java charges:
"In the world issue of right and wrong, Americans always take sides With their fellow white men. This is true whether the issue involves imperialism, power politics, or strategical maneuvers. You are always in concert with white people,
"Africa and what remains of Asia are still under the white man—European—and you support him by all kinds of methods. That is why we cannot trust the American Point Four program. To us, that is just another trick."
In one breath America "spouts idealism to disarm people" and in the next breath "as soon as they are disarmed America cuts their throats economically, militarily and politically. You Americans always want to be the upper dog. If people disagree with you, they are no good and are wrong," Sarodio continued.
Will Caution His People To Avoid U., S. Contamination
Declaring that "Americans pride themselves as the chosen people because they rule the world with their ideas and influence, their trade and armies," he said that this power is "material and will not last. But pride will not let you see the truth, and you have too much comfort to want to admit or change it."
His conclusions are based on three years at Ohio State, two years at Fordham and one year at Columbia universities, plus living in various towns and cities throughout the nation. Conditions were "about the same in all these places," he said, and concluded:
"I am going home, therefore, to my people and tell them to cultivate our own ways and try to avoid contamination of yours. This is better for me and for them."
At just about the time this letter appeared, a class in government, the United Nations and education at Columbia University heard a noted speaker say that "there is no real UN so far as the darker races are concerned."
"Trusteeship Is Just a New Word for Slavery"
This speaker was James B. Lawson, president of the United African Nationalist movement, who lectured on "Trusteeship and Non-Selfgoverning Territories In Africa." Showing the same kind of criticism as that evidenced in Sarodio's letter, Lawson said:
"To me, trusteeship is just a new word for slavery or the old colonialism. The trusteeship agreements for existing trust territories were drafted by the controlling power in each instance and submitted to the general assembly for improvement only. These agreements were drafted to facilitate imperialism. Conditions in the existing trust territories are no better than conditions in the acknowledged colonies; in some instances, they are even worse than in the colonies."
Under trusteeship, Lawson said, African and other countries "are being drained of their resources to rebuild Europe. None of this money is used for proper education of the people to whom the territory actually belongs, nor for proper health facilities, nor to industrialize these territories. This proves there is no real UN so far as the dark races are concerned; it is just the same old slave masters or new ones."
By ignoring such complaints, we are merely piling up for ourselves a tidal wave of hate which, sooner or later, will sweep over us. Would it not be better to stop now and right these wrongs while there is still time?