Page:Chicago Race Riots (Sandburg, 1919).djvu/81

Rh, are taking a decisive stand against race prejudice, violence and anything else than peace and equality before the law.

"If this is true and it should be found that among the 70,000 men employed at the packing houses there has been no violence between white and colored union men, it may be that this is a high point in history. It is gratifying to hear that the employers at the stockyards recognized months ago that rivalries and bitterness between union white men and nonunion colored men would make a bad situation, and therefore they consented to the colored employment agencies recommending to all negroes applying for jobs that they should join the union. It is evident that without these stabilizing influences Chicago might have had a slaughter running into hundreds.

"A commission, consisting of men and women from both races, should be appointed to investigate and make recommendations. Such a commission, if it has the right people on it, takes the thought of people away from violence. That was our experience in the Atlanta riots."