New-York tribune., 1871-04-15
TILE c1SE on CNLLRN

THE CASE or CULLEN
4 certain Mr.. Cullen, a barber, who appears
to have his veins filed with the
bInest of Philadelphia's blood, has been forced
lately 10 yindicate his social status in man.
per which is, to say the least unpleasant.
Mr.. Cullen was called upon last month to
serve his country as a juror AlVays alive 70
the necessities of bis rank, socially and Gs-
thetically considered, he critically surveyed
his colleagues and discovered, to his dismay,
that two of them bore unmlstakably the tin,
of the olive; in fact, in Mr. Culleo's own Ian
guage, were "blastcd niggcrs." Nobcss.
oJEge: the arstOcratic barber Indignantly
withdrew from the jury. The Judge ordered
him back Mr.. Cullen resisted; the white race
and the black looked down on the arena
breathIess, while the social instinct Of repul-
" sion," which five years ago was declared 10
be ineradicabe, made its final struggle yalor-
ously in the champion barber. The learned
Judge with, perhaps, a newly y-awakened hu-
manity, perhaps a side-giancc toward the
black vote in the coming cloction-who
shall say p resolved to crush the social
instinct. Mr. Cullen had two horns Of tie
dilemma set before him-a seat by the ncgToes
or 5000 fine and MOyamrnsiBg. The soul ot
the barber was valiant to the end: he would
not sit down, and he would not pay the fine;
he was shut mp, therefore, in the Black Maria
and conveyed to the City Prison, whore seats
and lodging are, to say the lea.t, unsayory.
From out this lamcntable abode he sent foT;h
weekly cries and protcstations against the lower
deep into which they would yet plunge him
rcr, orce. Murlerers ard thieves the soul Of a
free-born citizen could cOnsOrt with, but o
mulatto iuror-never. At last Ilabeas Corpus
having failed to warrant contempt of Conri,
the noble barber has paid bis two hundred
dollars rather than sit beside a negro, and he
was yesterday released.
The whole affair reads oddly when we re-
member that in this same city, few months
ago. the Academy of Music was refused by
its directors, men Of high social standing, to
Senator Rcvels to lecture in. for the sole reason
that he was black Why should the engine Of
the law choke out the prejudcen the unfor-
tunate barber for which wcatlfer men won
applausel It is a lit-le curious, by the way,
that Philadelphia, which was for so many
years the grand terminus OF the underground
railroad and the one city whore the Quake.
taconism TO Slavery but a true brotherhood
among men, should be the ground where the
battle for the social position OF the colored
man has been wagcd with the most extreme
bitterness. SO intense was the prejudice
against them that the cOlOreG regiment raised
in Philadelphia drilled and muninoned at
Chestnut Hill, could not pass through the
streets of the city in rank when on their way
10 the seat of war, but were obliged to skulE
in civilians dress, sngly, to the depot. Their
right to the use of tie street ears was fought
with venom of opposition equaled novhcrei
and they are still debarred by custom from
the better places of amusement All this in
the face of the fact that in that city there Is
larger class of educated and wealthy colored
people than in any other. 1t numbers in ts
ranks men and women of culture and re-
tinement; they have their colleges and clas'i-
cal schools for both sexes; they have made
their way into every profession and business 10
the very highest, and filed their places with
marked power and success. We are sure these
men would dcprecate this fOIci,le-fccble at
tempt in the Court to crush ont irrational pre-
iudice against them. No man can l,gisla's
away an opinion; but any man can live it
down.
The cOored man in America has the right
TO his place as Il citizen, and the education to
fit him to FL that place intelliccntly; the
white man claims no more. This social posi-
ton he must conquer himself The uLrcaSoD-
able prejudice against she negro viii doubtless
lnger long in the minds of the viiulcat, ohsti-
nate lower orders, whom this man Cullen so
aptly represents. The most ctfcc,ual means to
conquer it is that of the total Il VI rance and
quiet self-respect which charc,,r,ro the eda-
Gated colored class in PhiladclT Liza OF whom
we have spoken. They 1orm Il ,crieiy Of ticn
own, live apart, marry and irtclmaay The
time will come when the similar chs in the
white ranks will voluntarily pc'oyye how
much they have lost by the want ~ contact