MEMORIAL TO HITLER (AN EDITORIAL), p.11
Dublin Core
Title
MEMORIAL TO HITLER (AN EDITORIAL), p.11
Description
"The fourth of July used to be a day that all Americans, regardless of race, creed, color, or station in life, could feel a sense of unity and discard, for a day at least all thoughts of inequality and inequalities and lose themselves in the protective for of patriotism and allegiance to country and flag. This year, with blue and gold stars adoring the windows of nearly ever every home, with our nation still at grips with a ruthless foreign enemy, that feeling of oneness in a common cause and security in our mutual devotion should be stronger now than ever in our history.
But because of the trend of events and the divisionist [sic] activates of willfull [sic] men in high places, millions of our citizens are deprived of the joy that beats in the hearts of all men when they can say without reservation, “This is my own, my native land.” Instead of the thrill of citizenship which comes when the national anthem is played, we are chagrined and shamed by echoes of the chorus of hate drifting from the nation’s capital where men of ill will are fighting to deprive their fellow countrymen of the right to work and live because of color alone. While this act is ugly enough in itself, the techniques employed make it even more reprehensible. A part of that which a minority was able to thwart the will of the majority and make a mockery of the democracy for which we fought at Lexington and Concord. While the hearts of colored mothers are still bleeding for their sons who made the supreme sacrifice in Sicily, Normandy, Germany and Tarawa and all the battle fronts of the world, men who had given nothing, blackened their memories with lies and vituperation. The big question is not so much what Independence Day means to us, but what can Independence Day and all it symbolizes possibly mean to men like this? It is a sad commentary on the moral leadership of America that instead of this July 4 being a day of reverence and rejoicing over the destruction of Nazism. These men should convert it into a memorial for Hitler by perpetuating the doctrine of race hate which he espoused, and for which millions gave their lives to eradicate from the face of the earth."
But because of the trend of events and the divisionist [sic] activates of willfull [sic] men in high places, millions of our citizens are deprived of the joy that beats in the hearts of all men when they can say without reservation, “This is my own, my native land.” Instead of the thrill of citizenship which comes when the national anthem is played, we are chagrined and shamed by echoes of the chorus of hate drifting from the nation’s capital where men of ill will are fighting to deprive their fellow countrymen of the right to work and live because of color alone. While this act is ugly enough in itself, the techniques employed make it even more reprehensible. A part of that which a minority was able to thwart the will of the majority and make a mockery of the democracy for which we fought at Lexington and Concord. While the hearts of colored mothers are still bleeding for their sons who made the supreme sacrifice in Sicily, Normandy, Germany and Tarawa and all the battle fronts of the world, men who had given nothing, blackened their memories with lies and vituperation. The big question is not so much what Independence Day means to us, but what can Independence Day and all it symbolizes possibly mean to men like this? It is a sad commentary on the moral leadership of America that instead of this July 4 being a day of reverence and rejoicing over the destruction of Nazism. These men should convert it into a memorial for Hitler by perpetuating the doctrine of race hate which he espoused, and for which millions gave their lives to eradicate from the face of the earth."
Creator
N/A
Publisher
Baltimore Afro-American
Date
1945, 7-14
Collection
Citation
N/A, “MEMORIAL TO HITLER (AN EDITORIAL), p.11,” African American Fourth of July, accessed April 29, 2024, https://africanamerican4th.omeka.net/items/show/309.