770.00/6–1753

International President, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (Randolph) to President Eisenhower1

Dear Mr. President: Because as supreme commander of Allied forces in the last world war, you were charged with the monumental [Page 44] responsibility of executing Operation Overlord, the invasion of the Fortress of Europe under the Wehrmacht of Adolf Hitler, across the English Channel; and your responsibility as President of the United States, which history has chosen as the leader of the democratic forces of the world in this hour of crisis, eminently equip you to grasp the magnitude and immediacy of the danger of Africa, blazing with the fires of nationalism to world peace and democracy, I wish, respectfully, upon the eve of your departure to the Bermuda Conference, to enlist your friendly offices to raise the question of Africa, its present status and future, to the leaders of the great colonial powers of the world, Great Britain and France.

On account of the accelerated march of the forces of a color war across the African continent which, if unchecked, may engulf the African and Asian countries, rivaling, if not dwarfing, perhaps, at least, in portent of hatred and devastation, even atomic warfare between Communist Russia and her satellites with the United States and the United Nations, and since it appears quite evident that the raging tempest of Africanism will never subside while the peoples of Africa are plagued with the abominations of colonialism, I want to urge and request that you, the only world leader whose voice against the cruelties and crimes of colonialism will be heard and respected, warn and demand as a part of the price of continued aid by the United States, that the colonial metropolitan government take cognizance of the fact that:

1.
That African reserves are not only inadequate in area but comprise the least desirable land in every African community which is invariably beset by the menace of the tsetse fly, be reevaluated with a view of African natives being given access to the more profitable, arable lands that have been unjustly appropriated through force and deception by European white settlers.
2.
That British military forces immediately cease dropping bombs upon the peoples of the Kikuyu tribe of Kenya, East Africa, the uprising of whom, through the secret order known as Mau Mau, against the exploitation and insults of British settlers; for while the methods of murder are deplorable, they are an inevitable expression of desperation, cradled and created in the bowels of ruthless colonialism. Certainly, the leaders of African natives must be prevailed upon to see that violence and bloodshed cannot constitute a solution of their social, economic and political problems. By the same token, British and South African white leaders must be made to see that violent and bloody suppression of African natives will not wipe out bitter resentment against misrule of white rulers.
3.
That the starvation wage system which gives rise to malnutrition, disease and pauperism, be discontinued and African labor be granted the right of self-organization and collective bargaining; and that African workers be given equal pay for equal work with white European labor.
4.
That the color bar, an affront to the dignity of the human personality of Africans and a travesty upon the faith of free men, in hotels, residential areas, labor unions, jobs and government, be abolished.
5.
That African natives, Indians and colored people be given the right to vote and be voted for, and that the British system of “indirect rule”, a form of political flattery of African chiefs, giving them a false sense of possession of power, since it is but the shadow and not the substance of power, be reexamined, from the point of view of the final control of African political and governmental affairs being in the hands of Africans.
6.
That the hated and hateful segregated school system, providing separate schools for African natives, Indians, colored and Europeans, with the least part of the funds created through head and hut taxes of the natives and income of other inhabitants and industries, going for the schools of Africans, the largest single group in every African area, with the lion’s share of taxes provided for the white European children who represent but a small fraction of the population of school age in Africa.
7.
That the “Color Pass”, an institution which is a mark of servitude which tends to insult and enrage Africans, the possession of which by African natives, may be determined and demanded by any white person at any time, anywhere; the lack of which may mean jail, be completely discontinued.
8.
That the whole Central African Federation scheme, composed of Southern and Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, be postponed and referred to the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations for study and appraisal, since it is bitterly and practically universally opposed by African chiefs of these territories.
9.
That the banishment of Seretse Khama, African prince, from his tribe and people, Bamangwato of Bechuanaland, merely because of his marriage to a white English girl, be rescinded on the grounds that it is an intolerable denial of a basic human and democratic right of the Bamangwato people to exercise the privilege to choose their paramount chief; besides, it involves the future of the protectorate of Bechuanaland, adjacent as it is to the racist territory of the South African Union, and is an unwholesome species of autocratic paternalism. While the exiling of the African prince, Khama, by the British government, from his tribe, involves the fate of one man, in the light of the African crisis, he should be considered as a symbol of race equality and liberty, and his exclusion from his own country and from the fulfillment of his responsibilities to his own people is a challenge to our democratic faith and our moral principles, both Christian and humanitarian.
10.
That the pledged word of Great Britain to grant independence to Nigeria in 1956 be kept and that the apparent policy of pakistanization of Nigeria, sometimes called the India of West Africa, because of incidental internal conflicts of recent occurrence in Kano between Moslems of the North with Christians and pagans of the South, be not used as rationalization for the alleged incapacity for self-rule by Africans, and, hence, good grounds for delaying independence of Nigeria.
11.
That Fascist Malanism in South Africa, which brutalizes and humiliates African Bantus, Cape Coloreds and Indians, be made the subject of investigation by the United Nations because of its menace to world peace and democracy.

May I urge that you be not deceived by the cry of Communism as a cause of the violent unrest and uprising, revolt and revolution of the black man against the white man in Kenya and South Africa. While it is undoubtedly true that agents of the Kremlin may be swarming over Africa plying their destructive trade and tactics of infiltration and subversion, with a view to capitalizing upon the flagrant grievances of Africans without, of course, the slightest interest in actually helping Africans, the hard fact is, we are now witnessing in Kenya and South Africa an awakening, aroused and enraged, oppressed mass of black men bent, not only upon reaching for bread but also freedom, justice and equality, and a disturbed, desperate and frightened group of white oppressors, at war; a condition which is certain to worsen unless some authentic voice of power and goodwill is raised in the interest of humanity, democracy and peace, which can give hope to the Africans for protection of their life, land, labor and liberty from the avarice, arrogance and attacks of armed bands of white settlers backed by the British government, police and military forces.

I have written you at length because the outrages perpetrated upon African natives, especially in South Africa and Kenya, as well as in Southern and Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland and Uganda and practically every area of African life, constitutes one of the most inhumane chapters in ancient and modern history and represents a throwback to the dark ages of social, intellectual and religious obscurantism.

May I say that Africans are on the march to self-determination, freedom and justice which no force on earth can stop, and they must be made to see and feel, by deed, that Russian Communists are not the only champions of revolutions for nationalism and revolt against landlordism, poverty, disease, illiteracy and tyranny, but that the leaders of the Western democracies and, especially, the United States, a power which possesses no colonies and seeks none, stand definitely against colonialism and all its evil works, and for a moral order of dignity and decency for all mankind, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin or ancestry.

This philosophy of freedom, fraternalism and friendship alone can prevent the teeming millions of black men whose backs are burdened by the weight of centuries of oppression from being lured into the orbit of world Communism and keep them in the family of free men.

Very truly yours,

A. Philip Randolph
  1. This letter was referred to the Department of State by Sherman Adams, Assistant to the President, on July 9, 1953.

    On July 28, 1953, Deputy Assistant Secretary Jernegan addressed the following reply (drafted by Feld and Hadsel) to Randolph:

    “After it became clear that the Bermuda Conference would not be held as originally planned the White House referred your letter to the President, dated June 17, 1953, to the Department of State.

    “The recent talks which the Secretary of State held with the Acting British Foreign Minister, Lord Salisbury, and the French Foreign Minister, M. Bidault, did not deal with problems raised in your letter. The Department of State, nevertheless, appreciates the opportunity to receive an expression of your views, and I have circulated your letter to those Departmental officials who are concerned with African affairs in general and in particular with the problems alluded to in your letter.” (770.00/6–1753)

    The Bermuda Conference of the Heads of Government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, originally scheduled for July 1953, was postponed until December 1953. The American, British, and French Foreign Ministers held meetings in Washington, July 10–14, 1953. Africa was not discussed at either of these conferences. For documentation on both conferences, see vol. v, Part 2, pp. 1710 ff. and 1582 ff., respectively.