THE DARKER BROTHER

The confusion and frustration of the Negro is exemplified in this story of Ben, whose uncle Rafe has brought him, his mother and sister, up from Florida to Harlem. Rafe is in the money, as prime -- if unsuspected -- mover in the policy racket, and he wants the best for his relatives. Ben learns the hard way that racial prejudice exists with violence and hatred. A white gang kills his uncle, moves in and takes over his racket -- and Ben must leave school, and search, vainly, for a job. Then his mother and sister die. Birdie, who loves him and whom he loves, cannot hold him. He enlists, goes to camp in the South and meets an even more bitter taste of racial hatred, Birdie, meantime, is also jobless and goes on the streets, but when Ben returns on furlough, she confesses and they decide to marry. With the news of December 7th, Ben get a clearer vision of the job there is for his people, and goes back to camp. The story, sympathetically, realistically portrayed, of Negroes seeking readjustment. This lacks the power and the sensationalism of Native Son -- but it does a job.