The colored Tennessean., 1865-10-14

+
met him so strangely, think so vet
Philadelphia Press. 81. g @aa 159
DESTINY OF THE NEGRO RACE TN
sae ~ AMERICA. ar. 8. .sxarT
We notice in certain journals OF
the cold -blooded, pseudo -metaphysi-
cal type, pleasant speculations about
the early extinction of the negro race
on this continent. These speculations
are always based on the history of the
Indian tribes. These tribes have re-
ceded before the advancing wave of
civilization, until they have become a
mere handful of thieves and cut
throats, lowering in pauperism, senil-
ity and malice around the frontier
settlements of the Republic. Their
fate is supposed to prefigure that of
the African. Such speculations can't
proceed from any scientific induc-
tions. For, beyond the single alleged
fact of inferiority, (which no man is
competent to predict will be al,cays a
fact, there is no analogy between
the character and circumstances Of
the Indian and the African. The for
mer has proved himself an incurable
savage. He despises labor, learning,
and all the habits, arts, agencies, sym
bols and appurtenances of civilized
Life. He repels civilization and re-
CARDS its encroachments upon his do
main as an affront demanding mortal
vengeance. The consequence is a
state Of chronic war with his civilized
neighbor; and his extinction, there
fore, is as rapid and certain as the
spread of civilized society. The In
dian, as a race, bears moreover the
marks of senility, worn-outness and
decay. His stolidity, gravity, silent
ness, power to dissemble and to con-
ceal his purposes and feelings, lack Of
hilarity, buoyancy, humor, of playful
and social characteristics, are all indi-
cations of old age. We believe some
what in the doctrine that races, like
individuals, have their 3'seven ages"
their childhood, youth, manhood and |
decline And the Characteristic symp-
toms of these several periods in in
life are curiously visible in
races. If now we look for the signs
OF age in the NEGRO. we shan fnd av-
cry pusSiI
hood: ne is gay, hopeful, froncsome, |
lmprovident, initiative, aspiring, So
ciable and irrepressible He is fond |
of dress and show, inordinately graft
lied with praise, prone to look up to |
his superiors for guidance, and to re-
gard such, when they win his gratitude
oy friendliness, with profound rever-
ence and admiration. These are
youthful traits. Every one who
lnows anything of the negro, knows
hey are prominently manifested in
lm. 1t was less an intentional in
llgnity than an unconscious instinct
which begot the Southern habit ofl
alling negro men "boys." Even the |
ices of the negro partake more of
he recklessness of youth than of the
calculating depravity of veteran years.
But, again, his attitude towards civ
lied life, his estimate of its grandeur
nd desirableness, are exactly the re-
erse of the Indians. He shudders
being driven into the wilderness by I
imself. He likes to loaf, but it is in
lie busy haunts of industry and hu-
Ian activity that he desires to do it.
[e has no love of solitude, and no
aversion to the methods
nd habits of the white man. On the
ontrary, he is busy in perpetual imi-
4tion of these habits. The spectacle !
freedmen of all ages crowding the I
'hool-rooms opened up to them by I
e noble philanthropy of fanatics /
touching and profoundly instruc y
We. The concurrently significant y
'ectacle of their eagerness to pos s
IS, and diligence in cultivating, land n
their own is not less so. In these II
% particulars, the traits of the negro
d the premonitory signs of his pro 1
BILE fate are as diverse and opposite t
those of the Indian as can be i'm u
ined. Pertinent, to this subject is ar
e following paragraph from tele- d
am sent over the country day before b
sterday, giving some notice of the p
rthcoming report of Gen. Strong, 81
spector of the Freedmen's Bureau. TO
e General admits to having gone 9
ongst the freedmen with prejudices th
ather unfavorable to them than 9th III
vise." He spent three months in lii
'tigating their condition along the nc
ssissippi and Red Rivers. The st
egram says = ad oau q anhi1n IA
He visited many of the settle be
nts and plantations, incog., and in
single instance failed to discover s
dences of advancement beyond his !.
st sanguine hopes. They are in y
trious, and their highest aim is to II
possession of small parcels of ity
/ to work for themselves; and in Cb
es where they have accomplished n.
!, they have fairly amazed their old -
'ters, the white cotton growers, by .
heavy crops they have got under yes
!. Of course, there are individ- cri
in each community in whom idle no
J and vice can't be overcome by co,