The Ohio Daily Express

African and American Students Hold Round World Tour

TALLAHASSEE Aug. 24 (ANP) - a verbal round-the-world tour was a feature of a dinner which Etta Moton, the concert singer, gave for the interesting group of them and foreign students at Florida A & M college last week to introduce them to her daughter Etta Vee Barnett. Miss Barnett has just returned from a three year assignment in Germany where she went for Red Cross and for the past year has been working with the International Refugee organization.
There were students from the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Liberia, Cuba, and Haiti. Mrs. Margaret Simms who did a special task with the Red Cross in various sections of Europe during the war, discussed England and France. Miss Barnett talked on Germany, Bavaria, Switzerland and Italy. Miss Moton was moderator. Each foreign student told why he came to the United States his general impressions, his surprises or disappointments,
The general surprise expressed was that with all of the free education at their disposal, so many of the American Negro students are not brilliant. They were disappointed that such abject slums in part of the South commenting that some places they had seen looked like undeveloped Africa. They were disappointed too that Negroes seem to care so little about the politics of the situation here and in Africa.
The Africans were surprised also "that Negroes do not have confidence in each other", that they say "Negroes aint no good" speaking of each other. They pointed out that American Negroes appear to give white skilled work men what ever work they have to do such as electrical work for example, because a Negro may make a mistake. They felt he made mistakes because he had no experience.
The above assertions were made by a student from Gold Coast. He said he came to the United States because he was bitter against the white men and thought that here he would become more so. Asked how he was faring he said he was watching the situation and that it was improving.
Miss Barnett spoke also before the graduate group headed by Dr. McKinney on the education and economics of Germany and Switzerland.