Arizona Sun

ARIZONA SUN

GETTING ALONG
By LAUREEN WHITE

NEW YORK, (Global) - The courtesies extended General Paul E. Magloire, President of Haiti, during his visit to the United States have been many and varied. He has been given an official reception in our nation's capital by President Eisenhower. He and his party visited Arlington Cemetery, Mount Vernon and other points of interest in Washington. D. C. In New York, he was given the city's Medal of Honor and Distinguished Service Citation by Mayor Robert F. Wagner. Columbia University bestowed upon him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree, and the ticker tape parade showered on him and his party should have been an experience they will long remember. Add to this the constant round of receptions given them in New York. Nashville and Chicago, and the dignitaries from Haiti should have been favorably impressed with America

We have no way of knowing which of the courtesies extended President Magloire and his party was enjoyed most by them. But it can be truthfully stated that no group enjoyed greeting him more than those gathered at Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York, at his reception there. The colored people of the Harlem community were thrilled beyond words to greet the President of the second oldest Republic in the Western Hemisphere. It was an exciting experience to see a black man who reigns supreme in the country from which he comes.

Throughout the ages, powerful forces have dedicated themselves to crushing and exploiting all people of color. Those who have managed to control the resources of the earth have made a fetish of suppressing individuals of color. The turmoil and confusion in Asia and Africa, where most colored people live, is a result of oppression.

When, in spite of all types of chicanery, unfair dealings, and double crossings, a Negro Republic can maintain its sovereignty and elect one of its members to its presidency, that Republic and the President should be honored. The thousands who gathered at Abyssinian Baptist Church were definitely there to honor. They saw in Paul E. Magloire much more than the man. They saw in him the triumph of right over might. To the thousands at the church, he represented the dawn of a new day and a rebirth of progressiveness in this disorderly world.

Two thousand people cheered him for five minutes when he entered the auditorium. They loved him.