Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1870-04-20
THE NEGRO IN THE SOUTH,
Correspondence of the Historian Of ..The
Lost Cause'' and Kentucky Negro.
puBLIsnrRs ANp pRoRIEroRs

entire, and ask for it careful reading from
our colored friends;
"LoUIsvILLE, KY, March "a, 1870.
" Eo,0ard A. Pollard, Esq:
DEAR SIR: The only apology l make
for seeming so bold in writing to you, an
entire stranger, is that am colored man.
II have read your article The Negro
in the South lin the April number of
Lippincotfs Magazine, and / stretch my
hand along the distance, grasping yours in
friendly honesty, a1,u pray God that more
like you-men of decided ability--will take
the same broad and enlightened views. L
subscribe to all you say, in the main, but
must put in an objection to one idea you
advance. e., that colored men would adj
vance their interests by taking up the good
men of the South and placing them in po
sitions filed by carpet-baggers, as you
term them.
"Now, the great difficulty with us is
that we can not find white men of the class
you mention. How many Wade Hamp-
tons, General Longstreets, and Edward A.
Pollards are in the South? Are we not
forced to identify ourselves with the Rad
ical party, the only party as such that has
given us anything? / admit that the Re-
publican party has in some cases been
hasty in others seemingly harsh upon the
people of the South, yet the antagonism
that has been shown the colored man by
the unthinking masses has compelled him,
no matter how much his better judgment
may have repudiated all harshness to ac-
quiesce under the circumstances. L know
that the thinking portion of the colored
people are opposed to anything that is cal
culated to breed animosity. They desire to
be on friendly terms with the whites,
knowing that the interests of each are
ipdentical that what is sauce for the
goose is sauce for the gander,' to use
homely expression that what benefits the
,IsNt.nA ,l-.A
and what is an injury to the one is an in
jury likewise to the other.
"Men of your style of thought can not
hope for colored men to identity themselves
with party that has for its champions
such men as Brick Pometoy, Fernandy
Wood, Vallandigham, Seymour, Hoffman,
and fiddling Bill Mungen in the North,
and Ryland ~ Randolph, Jesse d. Bright,
and the Kuklux Klans in the South. You
could not, would not, think that we had
any manhood in us, but that, spaniel-like,
we would lick the hand that smote US.
Here in my native city we have petitioned,
time after time, that the powers that be
would open one or more schools for the
benefit Of our children, (they tax us for
school purposes, but they will not even
answer us-we have knocked at the door,
but it will not open unto us. When clothed
in the garb of fullknown citizens, can we
vote for those who will not even listen to
man in office who, though an adventurer,'
still is willing that justice shall be done
unto us?
"In the very nature of things the Repub-
lican party, like all other parties, must
grow old and die, or die prematurely; (the
Democratic party is not only dead, but it
-stinketh.n) To keep it alive it must have
good men and true at the head. And like
other parties, in the course of time, it will
become more and more carrupt; but, so
long as il remains the party of progress,
the colored man will be found in its ranks,
and your good judgment approves his
choice, though you have not got that far
along yet, sir.
"The Democratic party being dead, a
new party can be built upon its ruins, a
party of liberal views, broad principles
that will embrace in its ranks all lovers of
their country-who know no North, no
South, no East, no West; but you can not
do it with such men as seymour, nor zen en-
dleton, nor Hendricks, nor any man OF the
past. You must have new men for lead
ers The old fogies are still mourning at
the shrine, where the ebony god stood.
They are behind the age. Like Rip Van
Wrinkle, they have been slumbering while
the world was tearing on. The Chase
movement came very nigh the mark, and
with such men as yourself and Hampton TO
lead in the South, a great National party
can be built up. We dare not trust the
Conservatives because they betrayed us
in Tennessee and other places; the Dem
ooTats the simon-pure, hammer-headed
class don't want us and God knows we
will none of them-then what must we do?
Can we be other than Radieals?' You
can bring out men, but they must be OF
new birth as yourself, who can and will
have the support of the colored man, for
do not believe that there is being in the
country more sincere in desire to see the
peOple-the whole epeople-happy and pros
porous than the cOlored man. We are in
tensely American in hopes and aspira'
tions; the greed for office affiicts but few
for we know that we lack in all that's ne
cessary to fill with credit public places
'All we want is fair play and no goug
ing. You seem disposed to cOncede it
With your powerful pen you can molc
minds to your thinking, for but few mer
think for themselves; it is much easier tt
have others do it for them.
"Apologizing for trespassing so long OF
your Time expressing my views not clearly
at best my excuse is that as one of th'
'down-trodden,' obscure though be, il
no sense a leader desire TO thank yo,
for the manly article in relation to TIL,
Negro i'm the SOUTH for / believe that j
will bring US a host of warm-hearte'
friends Very respectfully,
HORACE NORRIS"
Mr.. Pollard accompanies the above lette