New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1873-09-25
Thauk.ta Irene

10
EDITORS IoUENAI: A. ous &c ;ir If,-
>cTibc1 yIce. Identified !, it'll thc'r both l.t o..
ties Of blood aud SymVathiss. | wish :. ag.
knowledge cur Obligations to "I,,uc. " "I.l
at the same time to thank her In the -,rJ5-
aus sentiments uttered in "yr behalf m hgr
recent contribution To the columns ot a.,
Jol77iai entitled, " Way>ide Musings" Vi.,h
appeared in your issue Of the 18Th instant.
! will here say to our fair defender that We
have become quite accustomed, bot not n,if-
tercnt, 10 the sights and sneers of our ligbtt 7
tinted fellow citizens-the barbed shafts siili
rankle, though we NAV bear our suffering in
silence. Not unfrequently We are the rcCip-
tents cf downright and unprovoked insult.
which We generally PASS over in silent con-
tempt, not wishing To bring ourselves down
to their lower level.
But few white people are aware of the
many fndignities heapCdupon the defcnscless
heads Of my people; | say deicnselesS, be-
cause many of our grievances are beyond the
reach Of statutes. Many say to Us YOU are
free, YOU vote, and have all OF the rights and
privileges that other men enjoy: In answer
we say, that although we are free and vote,
we only have some of the rights, and not all
of the privileges. For instance, we claim the
right to be considered as belonging to the
human family, and not to the brute creation;
sud when our department. warrants, we claim
the privilege OF being treated ms ladies and
gentlemen. We claim the privileges tor our
children So freely given 10 those If every
other blood, ofhaving them learn trades aud
professions, and not being rs they are now
ostracized and barred out of everything en-
cept the most menlal pursuits, in order to
cater TO senseless and cruel caste prriu-
dice.
Trap = g, 81, 4 1
very few ndced-who would motive such an
occurrence as she has written Of or would
protest against 1t; it is the very rarity of
Christian charity" that makes the subject
"Wayside Musings" all the more valuable to
the colOred readers of the JownG.
Notwithstanding the passage at the Civil
Rights Bill by our Legislature, there vet re-.
main 10 US many grievances, that We believe
the good sense and growing Intelligence of
the masses will in time Obltcratc. CoIOrcd
ladies and gentlemen, even now, whenever
they go to public places or have occasion to
make use of public conveyanCes, expect to
experience more or less of the low bred
annovances so graphically portrayed hv
Irene" but to- the credit of our better class
of citizens | gladly admit that these breaches
Of etiquette and true Gentlity far more ire
quently cmanatc from that lower stratum of
o''tlN' WIZ nave ntN'I en- " rd ihr d'lk an
tagps OF refined social culture. | must saw
further that such evidences of color-hatc aud
ill breeding are most entirely confined to Snch
secular places as cars, hotels, ice cream
saloons, or concert and lecture halls; but
even in our churches there sometimes turns
up marked specimen Of this genus homo,
who in the temple of our God, will refuse To
sit in pew with or near colOred worshipcr |,
Query-Will they run out Of Heaven should
they find Old Uncle Tom there? Sometimes
when see the grotesque antics of these I'M
derdOne would-be opponents Of high toned
breeding am forcibly reminded Of Shylock's
philippe against similar abuses practiccd in
times past upon his people: ''Ilath not n
jew eyes: hath not Il Jew handss organs,
dimensions, senses, affections, passions : fed
with the same food, hurt with the same wca-
pons, subject to the same diseases, healed by
the same means warmed and cooled by the
same winter and summer as aChristian is : Ii
you prick US do we not bleed? Ifvou tickle
us do we not laugh? you poison lis do we
not die"
The fact is, Mr.. Editor, many people seem
to be ignorant of or forget the fact that we
are human beings and are a. sensitive to
insult and wrong and as apprcciativc Of good
treatment as they themselves are. such crea-
lures as Irene saw, are rare in our little
city, and | would fam believe that they re-
side outside Of the humanizing influence of
the Cornell chimes. | gladly make this adj
mission eXCulpating the vast majority of our
citizens from the sweeping criticisms of
irene" or the structures Of this article
GEO. a. JOHNSON.