The weekly Anglo-African. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1859-1861, 1859-12-10
LETTER FROM PHILADELPHIA.

PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 2lst, 1859.
Mr. EDIToR:- You will oblige me by in
serting what was suggested to my mind by|
/ AN article in the Anglo-African" of the
10th ult, signed Advance declaring it
absurd to test the following questions
I" Whether the prescribed Americans of
I philadelphia have rights which white men
are bound to respect, and if SO, whether
zthese rights entitle them to ride inside of
the passenger cars running through the
I streets of our city" Why, sir, our circum-
stances, connections and feelings cry out
1 for the renewal of that which, by us, is
sdeemed necessity. Precedent establish
Ses it; the ardent cravings of our nature de-
] mands it; and yet we are told it is absurd
Ito conform with these great invocations.
aWho can this Advance" be2 Surely he
kcannot be one that is identified with us in
sour oppression, or where is his principle (
lis it in the depths of his soul, or has he
been so far below Mason and Dixon's line,
land his load of oppression so very weig hty,
that ere he reached here, the last spark has
boo, ar;.rA., from, his sn,l1 down in one nm
u occupied corner of his pocket2 However
Ia line or two of his is sufficient to answer
#our queries. He says that " if the courts
5are to decide our fate in such matters, we
& might as well abide by the rules of the
accompanies and save our monies, for one
amay be interested in the other, and in such
Tease who cannot see which way the case
sswould be decided"
8 To me this is poor, weak doctrine, max
ling sacrifice of every emotion and feeling
8 Let me here add, that we have entered
these cars as men, paid our fares as men
sand when asked out on account of oul
color, have appealed to both driver and
.zconductor as men, and upon refusing tc
comply with their request, have beer
Ssthrown out with an application of boot, like
dogs.
q l now ask to whom must we appeal fol
aredress, but to the administers of the law
q Y es; make our assailants answer the charge
4sof assault and battery, and that of infring
ling upon our rights as men; for ejecting
part of the public from public convey
lance A little further he says that on,
ssrights can exist without the privilege to
s5exercise them-the latter the courts may
flavor us with, but the former they neve,
can" Now I would like to know if courts
give us the privilege to exercise our rightsl
aWhere is the absurdity in appealing fol
them, and upon what grounds does he re-
zcommend us to save our money, when we
Eacan spend it in pleading for that which he
@has asserted may be obtained 7 Again he
lshe says that "when railroad company
sasteps beyond the bounds of common decen-
icy and puts orderly and peaceable persons
Soff their cars, merely on account of color,
then they become disturbers of the peace,
(which they are bound to respect by their
scharter."
i Why, sir, how communicating and demon
salizing is disturber of the peace, and we
fare lawfully informed that the alder or
abetter is as guilty and as vile as the prin-
gcipal actor. If such is the fact, in what
light must we look upon the promulgator
gof such assertions as referred to here r
] THAT one who has been in our midst for
1 years has entered suit against railroad
company in our city, as test, is certainly
strue, and is no less commendable because
Fit is termed absurd; and that the ever
gswaying feelings of identity and humanity
prompted portion of friends to stand by|
shim in his worthy exertions, and wishing
Ito know how far they would be sustained
sby the mass of our people, meetings were
scalled in different parts of the city, and so
sfar the public have responded nobly, Civ
fling the lie to opinions that have been too
slong publicly expressed by our opponents,
{ land by some even amongst US, that we are
mot alive, as people, to our best interests,
(which called wildly to my mind that I'M
ceasing willingness that has SO unquestion-
ably characterized numbers here.