Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1865-11-30
The Negro Character.

negro character, is from G. a. Sa-
las letter from Algeria to the Lon
don Telegraph
"You have been told that, with
education and equal political and
social rights, the free negro will
in process Of time rise to the level
of the white man. Some amiabIe
fanatics 60 so far as to maintain
that Sambo is in all respects, about
thirty-6ve per cent. better than
his fair-skinned brother. We'll,
the free niger experiment has
been tried by the French in AL
giers, not Dramatically, but almost
unconsciously, for five and thirty
years. Sambo in Algeria is held
by authority to be as good as any
other man. The Europeans, the
Arabs, the Jews and the negroes
all enjoy equalrights. The Moors
often marry their negresses. The
French have not the slightest pref
udice against the negro on account
of his ebony skin. They never have
had. Among the ladies Sambo is
even popular. He is san beau
NOR" The Zouave walks arm in
arm with the Turco; negroes and
negresses ride in the same omni-
buses and carriages as white men !;
and there seems to be as many ne
groes in .Aigiers-full blooded
black negroes lin comparison with
the population, as in any consider
able city in the North. l am
quite certain that if deserving
colonist were recommended to the
Emperor for the Cross of the Lee
gion of Honor, his Majesty would
not withhold the decoration from
him on the ground that he had a
black face. / don't think the COM
munity would offer the slightest
objection to negro sub project or
negro commissary of police
Why should they? The negro is
French soldier, and all French
men are equal before the law
Thus, without disabilities, without
the stigma of belonging to an alb
horred race, one might imagine
that enfranchised Sambo would
have done something for himself
by this time. The State provides
gratuitous education for all races,
classes, and creeds, and there is
plenty of work and money to be
made, for those who are sober and
industrious. The end of all of
which is, that Sambo goes to sleep
in the sun, waking up to reject
himself with abundant pumpkin"
or plenteous plantains, and devour-
ing, preferably, another mans
pumpkin to his own.
He does a little fshing-that
avocation gives him plenty of
time to swing his legs over bank,
grooming forth some of the tom
tom kind, and taking short dozes
between the bites; he does little
gardening; he peddles a few bas-
kets, calbashes and bead rosaries.
This is all. He works, perhaps,
two days week. He is very libe
raj in his creed, keeping with
much scrupulosity, and as the
closest of holidays, the Mahometan
Sabbath, which is Friday, the
Jewish, which is Saturday, and the
Christian, which is Sunday, with
very likely little Saint Monday
Of his own. And whenever there
is the slightest excuse for an
ola cooked hat and par OF wors-
ted epauletts, to surmount his tur-
ban or his shoulders withal; he
sticks spangles Or tinsel over his caf-
tan, and with Pompey, and Quash-
lie, and Quimbo, his brethren, he
perambulates the streets humping
the tom-tom, changing the casti-.
nets, bowling the chants of his
country, and demanding the sous.
In the whole of Algiers there is
not a reputable negro shop-keeper
or artisan. You never see the ne
groes, now that they are free.
carrying heavy burdens, or doing
any kind. of arduous manual la
Dor; that they leave to the Arabs. |
prefers to loaf and "slosh
around"