Note:
Gunnar Myrdal died in 1987, less than 70 years ago.
Therefore, this work is protected by copyright,
restricting your legal rights to reproduce it.
However, you are welcome to view it on screen, as you do now.
Read more about copyright.
Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - IX. Leadership and Concerted Action - 39. Negro Improvement and Protest Organizations - 11. The Commission on Interracial Cooperation
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
An American Dilemma
844
... to quench, if possible, the fires of racial antagonism which were flaming at that
time with such deadly menace in all sections of the country.®®
Local interracial committees were started, and a series of ten-day schools
for whites and Negroes, respectively, were held for the purpose of training
leaders of both races to promote the interracial work. The schools con-
centrated upon community readjustment and care for the returning troops.®’
Started for the purpose of meeting a temporary emergency, the Commis-
sion’s work was so successful and was deemed so important that it was
decided to transform it into a permanent institution.
In the beginning the Commission sought to build up a network of local
interracial committees. At one time there were state committees in every
Southern state and local committees in more than eight hundred counties.
A staff of salaried officers organized and directed great numbers of volunteer
workers. During this early period a main emphasis in the Commission’s
program was placed on the correction of specific wrongs in the local com-
munities. During the ’thirties the Commission encountered financial dif-
ficulties in keeping up its field staff. There was also some disappointment
over the work in the local branches. The emphasis was then shifted to the
educational approach and to the work of the Atlanta office. In 1938 only
three of the Southern state commissions were even formally functioning.®^
At that time the Commission changed policy and started again to reorganize
and revitalize state and local tommittees.®® This reorganization work is still
going on.
The center of the activity is the Atlanta office, which employs three
white officers and four white office workers. The Executive Director is Will
W. Alexander, and the Associate Director is C. H. Tobias; Alexander is
white, Tobias is a Negro. Neither of these is actively engaged in the actual
work of the Commission at the present time. The President is a prominent
Southern white liberal, Howard W. Odum. The work is directed by a main
governing Commission of 104 whites and 53 Negroes, representing the
whole South.* The Commission meets annually. Abstaining from laying
down any fixed constitution,®^ the main Commission and the Atlanta office
carry on their own activity and assist in steering the activity of the state
and local committees.®® The Commission works on a yearly budget of around
$70,000.®® It is estimated that approximately 85 per cent of the financial
support of the Commission comes from foundation grants.®^
The Commission on Interracial Cooperation is the organization of South-
ern liberalism in its activity on the Negro issue. In its publications it
demands a fair opportunity for the Negro as a breadwinner; equal partici-
pation in government welfare programs; equal justice under the law; suf-
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
