by proldic » Thu Sep 01, 2005 9:07 pm
Use Troops in Flood Area to Imprison Farm Hands<br><br>Chicago Defender, May 7 1927<br><br>Refugees Herded Like Cattle to Stop Escape from Peonage -- Plantation Owners in Fear of Raids by Labor Agents The ugly specter of Race hate has reared its head above the angry waters in the flood area... Men, women, and children of our group, who were conscripted, forced to leave their homes to top levees and prevent, if possible, a flood in their respective cities, are now refugees in "Jim Crow" relief camps. This vast army of destitute persons, nearly one hundred thousand, the majority of them farmers and laborers from 75 villages and towns of seven flood-torn states of the South, are experiencing worse treatment than our forefathers did before the signing of the emancipation proclamation. <br><br>...[Vicksburg, MS,] with a total population of some eighteen thousand persons, has 13,027 flood refugees to shelter, clothe, and feed. Half of this number are members of our Race, who have been placed in separate relief camps and are being guarded daily by national guardsmen who fear they will be kidnapped. <br><br>...This action was taken, it is said, following numerous requests from southern planters to Gov. Murphree...that members of our Race be guarded against a possible influx of labor agents who would seize this opportunity to take the refugees to the North and give them work.<br><br>At present, the victims of the flood are given very little food and are barred from all visitors. ...Tags bearing the name of the refugee and the owner of the plantation from which he came are being placed on the men and women of our group. This is being done in order that the plantation owners can drive these workers back to the farms and charge these rations to them. <br><br>Labor Notice<br>Greenville [MS] Daily Democrat-Times, May 14 1927<br><br>All negroes in Greenville outside of the levee camp who are able to work should work. If work is offered them and they refuse to work they should be arrested as vagrants. Names and addresses of those refusing to work should be telephoned to police headquarters. I suggest one dollar a day as a fair wage at this time. -- W. A. Percy, Chairman of Relief <br><br>Deny Food to Flood Sufferers in Mississippi<br>Chicago Defender, June 4 1927<br>Relief Bodies Issue Work or Starve Rule<br><br>Another proof that Race hatred is continuing in the flood area was offered here last week when white relief organizations, headed by the Red Cross, southern division, issued a statement making each member of our Race responsible to some white man for the food and clothing he receives. <br>In other words, if the "boss" says you can eat you can, and if he says "no" then you starve. This statement under the signature of W. A. Percy, son of former Senator Leroy Perry -- whose prejudice against members of our Race is as bitter as gall -- chairman of the relief organizations of this city, has made it clear that discrimination and segregation will be carried to the fullest extent despite the fact that agencies throughout the country are endeavoring to see that all refugees are given an equal chance. Percy's first order specified that no members of our Race could receive food unless there was a man in the family and that this fact must be certified by some white person. ...These men who are not white must join the labor organizations and receive $1 a day if they want food for their families, he said. Those who draw a larger sum than $1 a day will not receive food. ...Refugees blame "Uncle Tom" ministers here for the suffering among our people. Ministers of all denominations have been called together and told by the whites to instruct members of our Race of the necessity of assisting their white brethren to recover from the flood. They have also been urged to advise our people that after the water has receded they were not to leave for the North since the South is the best place for "niggers." Rev. J. B. Stanton, styled a 'jackleg' preacher here, is the leader of the ministers. He has pledged his support to help keep our people here after the water recedes.<br><br> <p></p><i></i>