Page 4 CCC NEWSETTE ** February 10, 1983
1881 NEGRO NEWSPAPER: BLACK HISTORY MONTH ARTICLE (Concluded from Last CCC Issue)
(NOTE: "The more things change, the more they remain the same." Richard W. Thompson, 0. black newspaper editor in 1881, answered the question: “Is the~ Negro Newspaper an Important Factor in the Elevation of the Negro?" His conclusions appeared in this last
of two artic1es in our February Black History Month issues:)
"Negro newspapers have aroused in us the commercial and industrial spirit, and arc giving employment to hundreds of young colored men and women ••• They arc building up a market for Negro labor, and neutralizing to a great extent the baleful, influence ,of the
trade unions hostility.
"The Negro editor has increased the self-respect of the race by collating and publishing the creditable achievements of ,our people. furnishing n periodical compendium of history and placing the Negro in his' most favorable light before the critics of the world. The truly representative Negro journal reflects the sober 'judgment of the race upon topics' of general' interest.
"It largely fixes our status as thinkers and philosophers of-the times. The rights
of no people can' be ruthlessly invaded whose press is fearless, pure, upright' find, patriotic. No people can forever, be denounced as ignorant, vicious and shiftless who support a press that is intelligent, moral and
thrifty.
"Let it be remembered here~ however. that. the picture has its somber tints. Negro journalism, speaking generally. is not e paying investment. The fault does not lie wholly with either the public or the publisher. As a mass we are not a reading people, and the bulk of us neither know nor appreciate the value of the work that the
race paper is doing.
"Some of us take and pay for Caucasian journals for their news features--which is eminently, fitting and proper--but the Negro journal should not be made to suffer in unequal competition, for the latter fills a want which the former cannot reach. One dollar to the race paper is often worth as much as ten to the wealthy corporation behind
our great metropolitan dailies.
"It is not alone our illiterates who fail to support our journals. The educated-ed classes are not as loyal to the cause as their' means. learning, political interest and race pride suggest that they should boo True, it frequently happens that our papers fall into the hands of ,characterless adventurers who are 'anything for c dollar,' and it is felt that the best method of rebuking their self-constituted and erratic leadership is
to treat them with silent contempt.
"A journal that does not represent the highest impulses of a community does not deserve support. The personal organ, the scandalmonging Sheet, the political and, social blackmailer, the confidence-destroying campaign dodger. and the subsidized traitor to racial manhood are all under a .: ban, and should have no place in the homes
of self-respecting Negroes.
"In this category should also be classed' the colorless Journal, that smirks in the recesses of cowardice. We should be faithful,
however, to those that are honest and straightforward. We should strengthen their arms by our moral and financial resources. Booker T. Washington aptly points out how' difficult 'it is :for a needy man to resist
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- the temptation of the bribe-giver,
and tells pathetically of the uphill work of making a Christian out of n hungry mortal.
"Support the right kind of editors. and the result will be a press that is progressive, healthful and fearless-an institution of which all may be justly proud. Is the ideal race journal attainable? I say, YES--when the two elements
necessary to the transaction--the public and the publisher--are able to meet on common ground, in the spirit of
, cooperation and fair dealing.
"The ideal journal is that one which
,places racial weal above private gain-which exalts patriotism above pelf. It is controlled by men big enough and broad enough to eschew petty personalities and to avoid cheap sensationalism It is piloted by men who breathe the atmosphere of freedom, whose inspiration is not drawn from the committee rooms of political parties, and whose Course is ,not dictated by scheming politicians.
"It is the antithesis of sycophancy.
The ideal journal is backed up by men who are far-sighted enough to perceive that success through trickery is shortlived, and that character is the only foundation upon which an enduring structure can be built. It is conducted by men who know by experience that genuine worth will ultimately be appreciated, and that refined taste, sound judgment, and a saving sense of proportion will produce a newspaper that may stand as a model to posterity.
"Journals of this type, sincere, ernest and consistent •• are without question the keystone in the arch of those forces which make for a permanent elevation of the Negro people. Such journals are prime factors in the race problem." --RICHJ\RD W. THOMPSON--1881.
CCC PUBLICITOR'S COMMENT:
Mr. Thompson very well could have directed his message to the black community of Evanston during this Black History Month. Virtually all of the same issues blacks faced in the 1880's we still struggle to overcome in the 1980s such as jobs, education, discrimination practices based on race and color, et~.
Black history, then, is not some far away, decades-old event, but black history is NOW and it is WE, black people of Evanston, Illinois. What we do and say today is HISTORY, and in the year 2083 they will look back at Evanston's black community to discover what contribution it had made to the "elevation of the black people of Evanston and America..
Through our efforts, then, let's try to improve on the remarkable analysis and interpretation of Negro life in the le8o's with a superb record of achievement in Evanston in the 1980'sl
