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BETWEEN THE LINESGetting SomewhereBy DEAN GORDON B. HANCOCKIWHILE THIS IS being writtenNegro business men are gathering in Washington for a parley on Negro business. This confeience islong overdue. The very fact the government is taking into account the important matter of Negro business is doubly significant. If this conference diverts the attention of the Negro race from the purely academic pursuits and centers them on the great possibilities in the field of business it willmake a substantial contributionto the welfare and progress of the race. \ V =.= ' •;V:For a long time this area of Negro lift ha.4 been obscured by the stampede into the field of education. Our colleges have failed to emphasize this pressing need for Negro business. In the early stagesof our racial development the Negro of high degrees was assured ofthe “cream*’ of everything and especially was he given precedence in the matter of salaries and livelihood. How' changed today.Without effort we can meet daily Negroes boasting of degrees fromour best colleges and universitiesand yet without the necessities oflife Recently a young white manwas pointed out to me at a fillingstation, as holding a Ph.D. degreefrom one of our most famous Eastern universities. This indicatesthat the field of academic pursuits is being saturated and this situra-tion is being felt among Negroes a.s among whites.TIME FOR DIVERSIONIt is time for a diversion and this conference on Negro businessis such diversion. Unfortunately the pressing demands of our economic life force us into those fieldswhich have greater promise ofeconomic and financial emoluments.At first it was the ministry;later it was the physician and stilllater it was the bootlegger duringprohibition days. Later it was the teacher. Today the Negro undertaker the financial man of thehour. But the undertaker is a business man and his - successes onlyindicate the possibilities in thosefields w’here Negroes, either because of race loyalty or segregation. can exploit the trading possibilities of their race.Everything points to the conclusion that the hour has struckfor Negro business and if the current conference in Washington will serve no other purpose than to make us aware of this, it will serve a mighty purpose.NEED DYNASTIESWe need a few Negro business dynasties. Too often a Negro genius arises and builds with marvelous foresight and efficiency, but when he dies his business dies with him. This is a wasteful tendency in thebusiness life of the race. When a man spends years of high class business dealings he builds up a great reserve of good will whichts worth at times more than his stock of goods. Were these good will possibilities exploited, it would mean great financial gains for the race. But too often the possibilities of a business dynasty are thrown away and so each Negro business must begin anew' on the ground floor.An illustration of tiy thesis is seen jIn what is taking place in Chicago where the late Robert. ’S* Abbott built the great Chicago Defender. It is most unfortunate that the current litigations arejeopardizing this great enterprise. The Pittsburgh Courier is exposed to the same danger. It is fervently to be hoped that these greatenterprises may survive this tendency of Negro business to die with the founders.Unfoi Irately many of our best minds leave no progeny and this complicates the matter. An attempt to build Negro business dynasties is seen in the Journal and Guide policies w'here Editor Young has trained his sons as executives capable of perpetuatingthis great paper. The Murphys are doing the same for the Afro-American. The Scotts in Atlanta give another striking example of an attempt to build a good Businessdynasty in the Negro race.GETTING SOMEWHEREWhen we are able not only tobuild a good business but alsoto build it so that it will survive tne passing of its immediate founders, we are getting somewhere.Furthermore we are getting somewhere when a nationwide attempt Is being made to put Negrp business on its feet. The coming sphere for financial and economicsuccess for the Negro is the business sphere.The Negro race could well affordio sacrifice a few Ph.D.’s In education for a few1 A. B.’s In business. It is Impossible to think of t Negro business without thinking ofthe docirino of the “Double-DutyDollar’’ which In its lest analysisIadvocates that Negroes should trade with Negroes or with the whites who employ Negroes. This doctrine will not downf
Newspaper Details
Phoenix Index
Phoenix, Arizona, US
Sat, Apr 26, 1941
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 06 Aug 2022
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