Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-02-07
The Disadvantage. of Beins white.
Fifth Column, New York Times.J


leading snake organ OF the country, has latterly
turned its attention to the field of cats, and Is
! now discussing with great earnestness ant
/ ability the question, Why are white cats deaf
| II is painful evidence OF the inability of Ger
| tain Of its contributors to carry out long ant
| intricate processes of ratocination, that they
| have irrelevantly asserted that white cats ant
| not deaf. This observation would not have
been improper had the sun propounded the
| question, Are white cats deaf? but as an argu
ment bearing on the real question under discus
sion-why are white cats deaf lit is obviously
irrelevant and trivial
It's curious fact that white animal is
mouse has weak eyes, the white negro is no;
only weak eyed. but as general rule, weak.
minded, and the white bear is deficient in all
the finer moral qualities of the professional
brown bears who dance and drink beer. Ever
when the white man becomes particularly anC
exceptionally white he is the prey of eprosy OF
scrofula. Unusual whiteness is evidently con
trary to the design OF nature, and is, therefore
to greater or less extent, a calamity.
1t is said to be an article OF faith in colored
circles that Adam was originally black man
that he turned white with fear after his miscon.
duct in regard to the apple, and that only the
cream of his descendants have regained their
ancestral color. May there not be a basis Of
truth In this theory? Arewe quite certain that
our WhiteneSS Is a matter to be proud of. in
stead OF. a reason for shame and humility
Would We not be better physically and morally,
II we were to abandon our monotonous white
ness and to decorate ourselves either with a
quiet neutral TINT or with a brilliant variety
OF colors
There is no doubt that white men are pecu-
'liarly susceptible to certain diseases. The ma
larious fevers that do not affect the negroes of
the tropics are so deadly to white men that they
cannot nhab1t the regions where they prevail.
Consumption. which In our climate causes 20
per cent of all funerals, Is almost exclusively a
disease OF the white races. Who ever heard Of
negro or even of Swarthy Spaniard or South
italian dying OF softening OF the brain ?
The white race certainly has peculiar Suscep-
tibtlity to these and other diseases, and we have
a right to assume that its wilderness is at fault.
1t has only lately been discovered that the
White man has fatal effect upon colored races
We have always boosted with a good deal Of
pride that black, red, and yellow men must
melt away in the presence Of white people,
because the latter are the superior race. With
equal justice we might claim that the yellow
fever patient, in whose presence other people
contract yellow fever and perish, Is of race
that is stronger and higher in the scale of civil
cation than are his unfortunate neighbors. The
white man causes the colored races to vanish
because his presence is unwholeSOme. On the
river Amazon there are certain Tubes which are
friendly to the whites but which are rapidly
perShing. merely because Of contact with the
white race. Whenever white man visits one
of these Indian villages, an epidemic fever, end
ing in consumption breaks out. On the island
OF Tristan d'Acunha, the same phenomenon has
been observed. whenever an English vessel
touches at the island, the Inhabitants are imme-
diately attacked by influenza. The island of St.
kilda, off the west coast of Scotland Is some
times visited by fair-faced, light-haired British
yachtsmen, and straightway st. Kilda begins to
sneeze with great violence, and pass through
the preliminary stages of consumption.
These are facts Which are well established
and are universally conceded by our leading ply
sicians and othnologists. Beyond doubt, it is
this deadly influence of the white man that
causes our North American Indians to melt
away just as the original Inhabitants of the
Sandwich Islands have done. Popular opinion
attributes this decay OF the Indians to whisky
but the Sandwich Islanders have become almost
extinct without the aid of whisky. and If whisky
exterminateS nation, why do the Scotch and
Irish still survive? What has really slain the
Indian and the kanaka is consumption. They
have contracted it by gazing on the fatal white
man, who diffuSes colds. coughs, inflIenZaS, and
all diseases Of the throat and lungs as the char
coal braZier distributes carbonic acid. The
Indian has met the white man and has gone
back to his village to sneeze and to cough. The
Sandwich Islander has looked upon the fair ex-
terror of the missionary, and taken into his
system theology and consumption together
The white race Stays the red, the brown, and
the black, not because it Is superior race, but
because its whiteDeSS is as surely fatal as
We think ourselves fortunate In being white,
but it is because we are ignorant of the fatal
attributes of whitenesS, and have become,
through long habit, accustomed to regard white
as the normal color OF the highest type of man.
In reality, the dull monotony of white is as
ugly when applied to the human surface as it Is
on the clapboards Of New-England country
houses. African travellers, who have spent
years out OF sight of white men, tell us that, in
returning to Europe, they feel an Involuntary
disgust at the pale, colorless hue of the white
race. There can be but little doubt that the
white man is intrinsically ugly. We have a
natural love OF color, and the woman who
rouges her cheeks and pencils her eyebrows is
obeying blind yearniDg for that picturesque
ness of which the dead monotony of a white
skin is incapable. Could we color ourselves
without mourning the reproach which attaches
to the ins1ncerity Of paint, we should soon
begin to delight in female color The blue girl
the darkness OF whose ultramarine nose should
gradually melt into light blue ears and chin
would be admired for the delicacy OF her grada-
lions and the cold quiet beauty Of her tint.
The soft gray girl would invite our confidence
and would be wonderfully soothing to tired
nerves. The scarlet girl would warm the coolest
room. and the bright orange girl picked out
with black wouldtypify the passion and warmth
and langour Of the SOUTH
How to change our color is a question OF detail
TO be answered after we are convinced that
white is ugly and unwholesome. We must first
resolve 10 rid ourselves Of the false idea that
Wilderness is something to boast of. We are the
abnormal a1bnoS OF humanity, and we can
never be perfect men until We assume co,or.
The. Sun, in bringing the deficiencies of white
cats before the public, has struck the first blow
at WhiteneSS Let those who have the interest
OF the human race at heart join in determined
crusade against the white face that carries death
TO colored men and deprives life of half its
beauty.
The ZuIus Eat Some Meat.
or1nIa