The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 27, 1926, Page 14

fe ened sel By B. BORISOFF. HE “Chicago Defender,” a Chicago ~ Negro weekly newspaper, printed in one of its recent issues the follow- ing editorial which we reproduce in full: OUR FOREIGN PETS Chicago is in a quandary about its foreign population and has asked the assistance of the United States government in deporting so-called undesirable aliens from the country. This city has become overrun with Sicilians and gangsters from other countries who have carried on un- interrupted warfare among them- selves, and who have run Chicago’s murder list up to an alarming height.. The city police appear un- able to cope with them and are now erying for help. All of which affords no smail amount of gratification to our Race everywhere in the United States. We have watched how these for- eigners have been welcomed upon our shores. We have been forced to accept Jim Crow service, insults in the courts, inferior jobs, and res- idential segregation, while foreign- ers have been given the best the country has to offer. Any foreigner, however poor and ignorant of Amer- ican principles, receives more cour- teous service in American hotels and theaters than any person of our race. We, as a race, are subjected to all sorts of injustices, even in Chicago, while the foreigner, who fiouts our laws and who works for the destruc- tion of our very government itself, ig given every protection. Is it any wonder, then, that we smile when we see authorities of the city of Chicago seeking aid. to handle a problem that they themselves created? _This editorial raises two important questions: = First, what is the correct explanation of the country-wide drive against the “undesirable aliens?” The second, what should be the rela- tion of the Negro toward the foreign- born workers as dictated by his racial conditions and his interests as a worker? The Defender manifests total bank- ruptcy in dealing with these questions, pitiful lack of understanding, lack of » broad vision, and superficiality. The Defender attempts no conscientious analysis of the problem. The De- fender only repeats, parrot-like; the slanders of the white kept-press against the foreign-born, encourages prejudices, incites its readers against the foreign-born and indulges in pa- triotic red-baiting. The readers of the paper are presented with a dis- torted viewpoint and with a policy toward the foreign-born workers which ig harmful to the interests of the Negro both from the racial as well as the working class viewpoint. The problem of the foreign-born workers is not a Chicago police prob lem—as the Defender would make its readers believe, It is a national prob lem, It is also not a social problem of eliminating “criminal” alien ele- ments as is the contention of the De fender, These. charges of inferiority and ‘criminality which are being hurled against the foreign-born are only a cloak to cover up the real aims of the antiforeign-born agitation, But even cenfining the discussion to the ques- tion of social “inferiority,” to the charges of “criminality” and other al- leged undesirable social qualities that are made against the foreign-born one would expect a different attitude on the part of the Defender, To the ear of a Negro these charges sound sus- piciously familiar, They are the same charges of “inferiority” and “¢rimi- nality” as are usually hurled against the Negro, only in this case the word “Negro” is being replaced with the word “foreign-born.” In fact, both of these charges come from the same source—from the agents of the white imperialist ruling class—its kept press and its “scientists.” - When it is profitable for the white imperialists to incite the white work- ers against the Negroes they begin to clamor about the unusual number of “Negro criminals” in the jails of the big cities, Now, when it ds a ques- tion of arousing the masses against the foreign-born workers, the police receives orders to fill the jails with criminal foreigners, so as to justify the attack upon the foreign-born 'work- ers, We admit, and the Defender will also. admit, that under the present conditions, it is easter to fill the jails at will with Negroes or with foreign- born than with such “100 per cent Americans” as Mr, Crowe, Mr. Bren- nan, Mr, Hoffman, Mr, Small, or Mr. Coolidge, etc., ete. (the list is by no means exhausted), 'the real criminals and criminal agents of the white im- perialist ruling class (the class~ of the Morgans—and the Rockefellers, of the Garys, Mellons and -Du. Ponts the super criminals). These criminals were, time and again} exposed in. their crimes and convicted by ‘the verdict of the people. Their. crimes range from outright stealing of public funds (Small’s embezzlement, and Andy Mellon’s tax law), buying and steal- ing elections (Brennan), stealing the natural resources (Tea Pot Dome) to The Negro and the F oreign Born a complete enslavement of one sec- tion of the working class that would spell disaster to all workers, They would put tremendous obstacles to the efforts of organization of workers and their struggle for better condi- tions. The Defender does not present these facts to its readers. Yet they would furnish a correct. explanation for the campaign of slander against the foreign-born: it is intended to mold “public opinion” in favor of-the anti-foreign-born bills by inciting and prejudicing the masses of the native population against the “inferior,” “criminal,” “destructive” alien, The economic interests of the for- elgn-born and of the Negro workers are identical. Both are on the lowest rung, of the Bovial Jadder. It is en- tirely faisé on the part ofthe De- nderand in contradiction'to tacts to Tépresent the foreign-born workers as the privileged section: of the popula- tion (calling them “our foreign pets,” saying that they are given every pro- tection, ete.). While the Defender tries to arouse the jealousy of the Negro workers, it is unable to present any facts which Would prove this con- There’s a Fist Behind Every Finger Print. Drawing by Al Pollock, Worker Correspondent. robbing both the white and the Negro sections of the population of their civi rights (as in the South) or exploita tion in the kingdoms of the steel and coal barons, outright murder (during strikes)-to provoking war, killing, sub- jecting and oppressing colonial peo- ples (Morocco, China, etc., ete.). The interests of the race demand that the Defender devote its energy to the ex- posure of and fight against the im- perialist oppressors of the Negro rather than to their defense and at- tacking the foreign-born workers, By doing so the Defender is actually fighting on the side of the enemies of he race, The consistent policy of the ruling ase as Ww Keep the workers divided ‘> as to better exploit them, It is not difficult to understand why the attack resent is centered against the for elgn-born workers, Inthe basic indus- ves (steel, coal mining, food, tex tile) the foreign-born form..the ‘ma- jority of the workers, The organiza on of the workers in these industries would be a terrific blow to the ex- ploiters, They are determined to pre- vent this organization, no matter by what means, They have laid out a careful plan which, if it were suc- cessfully carried out, would place the foreign-born workers into exceptiona! conditions, Bills are before congress providing for a passport system, pe. riodic registration, with special regis- tration certificates for the foreign- born, threatening them with deporta tion for violation of the registration law and for other “criminal” offenses (which woulu easily include strike ac- tivities, resistance to anti-labor in- junctions, etc.) and giving the presi- dent the autherity to order the for- eign-born workers frem one part of the country to another, where, in his opinion, “national emerge’ de- mands their labor, One could easily perceive that there are provisions for “foreigner.” tention. The working conditions of he foreign-born workers and the “‘pro- ection” given them are illustrated by -he textile workers’ strike in Passaic. ($12-22 weekly wage, exhausting work, police brutalities, etc.). To in- tite the Negro workers against the ‘oreign-born ‘beeause in addition these abuses they do not suffer from racial abuses from which the Negro worker is suffering from is sheer non- sense. The economic interests of the Negro and of the foreign-born worker are identical, They are natural allies in the fight for better working condi- tions, in the fight to compel the labor bureaucracy to organize the unorgan- ‘zed and to break down the racial dis- crimination in the trade unions, Let us now turn to the political as- pect of the foreign-born question, The patriotic defense by the Defender of “our government against the “de- structive alien” tends to hide the fact that the present government is a ku ux klan government, that it was and \s supported by the ku klux klan, that it did nothing to secure to the Negro his political, social and economic Dur- ‘ing the Coolidge regime ku klux klan rights as an American citizen, outrages against the Negro became even bolder and more ferocious (wit- ness the Camden and Osala affairs, ate.), tent and passive, Negro call this government, which is steeped in the tears and blood of the Negro, “our” government? ‘The De- fender is intentionally or unintention- ally blind to the political significance of the anti-foreign-born policies of the gevernment, Yet it should have been easy for a Negro publication, espe- jay to distingnish all of the ear- marks of the ku klux klan in the anti- foreign bills of the Coolidge adminis- tration, The ku klux klan is both against the Negro and against the So is the Coolidge gov- The government remained si- Can any honest ernment, It strikes at the foreigners with its antiforeign-born bills. — It strikes at the Negroes by perpetuating their political, social and economic en- slavement, by not defending them against the ku klux klan, The Coolidge government bids for the sup- port of the’ ku klux klan. The De- fender backs the government in this policy, The political interests of the Negro and of the foreign-born workers prove also identical. Both are fighting for elementary civil rights against the imperialist government and its sup- porters—the American fascists—the kw klux-klan. The political policy of the Defender is harmful. Summarizing our analysis of .the two questions which we formulated at ithe ‘beginning of this-artigle, we'can_ say: antiforeign-born campaign and legis- lation are means employed by the rul- ing class in order to divide and weaken the workers and thus prevent their organization and effective strug- gle for better conditions, especially in the basic industries, Politically the anti-foreign-born pol- icles of the Coolidge regime is a bid for support of the most reactionary elements, of the American fascists— the ku klux klan. Both on the economic and on the political field the Negro and the for- eign-born workers face the same en- emy, their interests are identical, they are natural allies in a common fight. would not consider our analysis of the position taken by the Defender complete without attempting to an- swer one additional question: how to explain the bankruptcy of the De- tender in the realm of racial policy? The explanation that suggests itself at the first glance is the orientation of the Defender. The Defender hopes to get a few concessions for the Ne- gro from the white ruling imperialist class by submitting unquestionably to its rule and pledging its loyalty to it. It says in effect: “Look.how loyal we are; we will support you against your enemies, the workers, both black and ‘white, only throw us a few crumbs, abolish the most flagrant discrimina- tion.” In this the Defender repre- sents the sentiment of a section (per- haps a considerable) of the Negro petit-bourgeoisie. It is not peculiar to the Negro petit-bourgeoisie. In India, in China, in American colonies; in fact, in all parts of the world where the ‘imperialist oppression extends over colonial peoples, we can observe how the native bourgeoisie is betray- ing the interests of the oppressed by siding with the oppressors, Another part of the native bourgeoisie (as was especially clearly shown in the recent struggles in China) at one time unites with the workers and peasants against the imperialist oppressor, while at another time it fights the workers (when the workers present their own demands for higher wages, lower hours, better working conditions), The experience of the struggle of the oppressed nationalities and races against imperialist oppression has proven that the only true, consistent and militant champion of navonal or racial freedom is the conscious and militant working clasa and not the bourgeolaie of the oppressed ples. The working class being the ost on pressed class in society, cannot free itself without abolishing all forms of oppression, This Waa proven by the historic experience of the Russian workers, who, having freed themselves from the yoke of czarism and capital- ism, have also abolished all national or racial oppression, ; There is the basic reason why the Defender (not being an expression of the historic aspiration of the Negro working class) could not be expected to be a consistent fighter for the in- terests of the race, But, unfortun- ately in the case of the Defender, one could hardly speak of any fight for the defense of the interests of the race; it is rather a complete submis- sion to and the defense for the per- petuation of the most brutal imperial- ist power, ; The road to freedom for. the race lies in a — struggle of the Negro and white workers against their com- yen oppressor—the ruling, capitalist ss. “From an economic viewpotat, the . “~n at