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Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - IX. Leadership and Concerted Action - 37. Compromise Leadership - 11. In the North - 12. On the National Scene
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Chapter 37. Compromise Leadership 779
the necessary compromises in the full light of publicity. In the North the
recognition of full democracy in principle and unhampered rights to fight
for its gradual realization in practice give Negroes a basis for hope.
12. On the National Scene
The conspicuousness of Negro leadership on the national plane and the
severe demands on competence and devotion have a cleansing effect.
It is the writer^s impression that national Negro leadership is no more
corrupt nor more ridden with personal envy and rivalry than other national
leadership. Indeed, it compares favorably in these respects with, for in-
stance, national white labor leadership. The actual power situation will
often induce national Negro leaders to be compromising and even accom-
modating. Considerations of personal advancement will sometimes make
Negro advisors in government agencies and Negro aspirants for such jobs
more interested in calming down the Negro protest than in giving it force
and expression. But they are persistently watched by the Negro press and
by the national Negro protest and betterment organizations. In politics and
all other power fields the national Negro leaders, in conspiracy with their
white allies, rathef succeed in squeezing out more consideration for the
Negro cause than corresponds to the actual strength of their organized
backing—though, of course, far less than its potential future strength.
On the national scene—and also in the larger Northern cities—one often
observes a phenomenon which has an exact parallel in the women’s world,
namely, that it is felt appropriate to have “one Negro” on boards, on
committees, on petitions, and so on. Ralph Bunche comments:
Not infrequently, Negroes are shoved into positions of leadership by white leaders
for purely strategic reasons. It is common practice in numerous organizations and
movements today, especially those of the liberal variety, to say “we must have a Negro
on this.” I’his attitude has even found reflection in the purely academic and scholarly
organizations where it has been deemed necessary to project a Negro now and then
into some position of prominence in order to demonstrate the liberality and tolerance
of the group.^^
The Negro appointed in this manner—for no other reason than that he is
a Negro—often does not have the personal qualifications for holding a
prominent position. This is an angle of the much broader problem of the
“double standard” which we discussed in a previous chapter.*^ The caste
situation generally works to the detriment of Negroes, but there are indi-
vidual Negroes who are given recognition and advantages which they
would not get if the measures were objective under a casteless system.
This sketch of Negro leadership is frankly impressionistic and partly
speculative, as no intensive research on this topic has been made. It has been
* See Chapter 35, Section 9.
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