Bloomsburg democrat. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1867-1869, 1867-08-14
IS THE NEGRO A "BROTMER,!

The negro is man, but lie is not n broth.
rr. There are those, and the number is not
insignificant, nor is learning lacking among
them who will hold that we have gone too
far in making the concession with which we
start; and who insist that the earlier pro-
genitors Of the negro wcve to be found dis
porting themselves in the tops of the cocoa
nut srees of fervid Africa. We are not II
believer in this theory, mainly for the reason
that it is obvious the negro at no stage Of
his existence as a class has been possessed
of sufficient capacity for progression to have
elevated himself from the condition of n
baboon to one approximating, at least, that
Of the genuine MAN. The history of the
negro, such as it is, for the space of at least
two thousand years, is well known. During
all this time he has positively made no prog
rcss. The negro Of the days Of Aristotle
and Of Seneca is the negro of to-day. As
the gorilla of this hour constructs his den
after the same fashion that his british an
ccstor did ages and ages ago, SO the hut Of
the wild black is of the same miserable pat
tern and finish that it was when the Temple
of Minerva or the Pyramids of Egypt were
erected. OF this there is no doubt and
the same observations will apply to his men
tai progress, or rather can be taken in illus
tration of the total want of that high natur-
al intellectually which marks the true man
as developed in the white race. Our re-
marks of course apply only to the negro in
his native country and in his natural conli-
ton. OF that higher condition to which
some Of them have been brought by inter
course with the white race, we shall speak
presently.
BUTT is said that the degraded condition
in which the negro is found, and in which
he has so long remained without the slightest
change, is owing to the want of suitable in
struction that he lives in an isolated coun.
try which is rarely, and some portions of it
never, penetrated by missionaries Or travel
ers; that, in word, he is absolutely with
out the means Or opportunity for elevation
in the intellectual scale. To all Of which
we have one answer which we shall put in
the interrogative form. 1t is this: 1Jho CIR
hi=cd the ,chte man? From what undis-
covered land came the learned traveller with
models Of art and tales of science to awaken
the slumbcring intellect of the caucasian,
and lead him to sphere of light only be-
low that of the spirits of the blessed de-
parted9 No. Tile mhitc man ciiriltsed him
scl, impelled thereto and assisted by, the
Divine afflatus, which the Maker of all saw
proper TO bcstow in an incomparably great
er degree upon him than upon the negro
True, the degree of civilization to which we
have arrived is the work of ages. But it
began at once and progressed steadily, with
only such Interruptions as wars or pcstience
might occasion. We repeat, what has the
negro done for himself during all thc2c long
ages? Literally nothing. And no circum-
stance Of climate, Or of food, or of social
position as relates to his fellow, can excuse
him, for to all these his natural tastes are
exactly fitted His excuse, and it is valid
one, we have already limited at. lie was
created inferior to the white man.
These, then, being the relative positions
Of the white Man and the negro, is the lat.
ter "brother the Caucasian? In
considering this question We shall at once
throw ont all the cant about the great broth
erhood Of the human kind all being the
work Of the same creator ETC., for cant it is
when used as denoting the relationship of
brother between classes Of individuals vastly
differing in visogc as we'll as in physical con-
formation, and where the degree of mental
superiority is SO great, taking as the gage
what each class has accomplished for itself,
that there is absolutely nothing to throw
into the African side Of the balance.
Besides, the logic Of these eager hunters
after new objects for brothcrly affection
would make all created things brothers to
be claspcd to our bosoms and indeed high
authority can be found for considering the
very reptiles which shall dcvour our bodies
as holding that near relationship to us.
This is kind Of relationship which is the
result of common origin, and it exists
among all created things, and it is only in
this sense that the negro can be called
brother to us. For none of the convention
al requirements Of life can he be treated as
a brother He is not our brother to walk
with, to eat with, to sleep with, neither to
counsel with. As we'll might the hab;tuallv
dirty cart that carries tho refuse from vour
shambles call the elegantly constructed car.
riage brother, because they came from the
hands Of the same constructor. AS we'll
might the lordly lion call the iackall his
cringing pilot and scavenger, brother.
As to the few instances of negroes posses
sed Of any considerable amount of acquired
knowledge, they are marked exceptions to
the general rule marked, because among
the many millions who have been brought
in contact with the white, and of whom
hundreds Of thousands were free, it would
90 -.srar f 4, .gfi s.