The Indianapolis leader. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1879-1890, 1880-05-01
THE CINCINNATI MEETING.
Hon. Geo. W. Williams and the
Colored People Of Cincinnati.
Letter from Peter III. Clarke.

| Editor Leader-You are too hastv in
your conclusions concerning the difficulty
between the colored people of Cincinnati
and their mis-Representative George w.
Williams This hope to show you:
In the first place, the meeting in its COM
position and character was of the highest.
Some Of the very best men and women of
the city were there; and if it was not COM
posed of respectable and intelligent per.
sons, then there are none such among the
colored people of Cincinnati.
The meeting was SUNNI oned by men,
who, while not prominent in politics, are
yet in their churches and societies active
and universally recognized as leaders So
far from being enemies to Mr.. Williams,
they have been proud of him, and. till
now, his firm supporters. They came
together to prevent the contamination of
shameful deed, ,doubly shameful, because
the chief actor in it was one to whom they
had right to look for protection and not
outrage.
Thirty-two years ago the colored people
OF Cincinnati were compelled by the pre-
judice against them to purchase a ceme-
terry in which their loved dead might find
a rest, and they not be subjected to insult
when seeking burial place among the
whites They selected spot remote from
the city, not lying upon a main road, but
approachable only by an obscure lane.
Here reposes generation of our people
here many OF the citizens hold titles to
private lots not yet used here hundreds of
dollars invested in monuments. fences,
ETC., and all of this was suddenly and with
fts.cr IN l.<ao
was needed, for that alone could prevent
the outrage. The cemetery is not a nui-
sance; there remains in il space sufficient
for the interment OF nearly two thousand
adults. and it can not be objected to on the
score OF overcrowdIng For years the res
idents OF Avondale have tried by various
legal and illegal expedients to close il, and
Tor years its managers have been on their
guard, and their burials have been made
with unusual care to save themselves from
just such charge as is made by this board
of health. The objection is not that il is A
cemetery, but that it is cemetery belong
ing TO and controlled by colored men,
Adjoining il and with its main gate open-
ing upon the principal thoroughfare of
Avondale, is cemetery belonging to Ger
mans, fuller OF graves and no better tend.
ed than is the Colored American Gene
| terry. Why does not the Avondale board
OF health declare this burying ground a
nuisance2 and why does not the super-
serviceable Williams bring forward a bin
to close it2 Because they dare not, And
yet ii that German graveyard should be
closed it would bring no hardship to its
owners, for there is not Protestant cem-
etery in Hamilton county that would not
willingly open its gates for their accom-
mediation. But, to MS these same aristo-
Gratis OF Avondale would bar the gates of
Spring Grove as sternly as they did other
cemeteries in the past, when we were com.
pelled to seek this refuge for our dead
which this dastardly Williams would so
summarily close.
You ask, why do these men want IN
keep up the distinction of separate ceme-
teriesT We do not want to keep il up, but
are compelled by the prejudice of the
whites TO keep it up, or see our dead
treated with indignities that would not he
visited upon q good dog.
II Mr.. Williams tells you that he intro
duced that bill for the purpose of break
ing down distinction ON account of color.
he lies
He was in Cincinnati on the Saturday
Sunday and Monday preceding the intro.
Continued on Third Pave