The sun., 1882-06-18
NEGRO EDUCa TIoN IN GEORGIA.

ATLANTA, June l2.-In the morning tho
streets OF Atlanta are filed with colorod girls
going TO school. They are dressed very nearly
as well ~ the white girls. / lately mot two of
them bound. satchol in hand for Atlanta Uni
vorslty If you want to learn music" said one.
you must know notes and time" The other
replied: Notes is SO hard to understand.
Notes and tho Bible is tho hardest things ever
tried to understand in my life"
when first saw the colored pupils Of Atlanta
University collected in their chapel 1t struck me
that had never in my life seen such an as
scmblage, though accustomed from my earliest
childhood to the large congregations of the
negro churches. l had never before seen a
large body of negroes whose appearance was
distinctivcly mulatto. There are, of course. a
good many blacks. but the general look is de-
cidedly that OF II mulatto throng. From sew
eral different calculations. chasing among
blacks all those of whose cases thore could be
any doubt. more than two-thirds are of mixed
blood. Ot these large number are quudroons
and octoroons and u number would pnss for
white In any company in the world A few are
red headed and freckle faced. These numbers
are are out OF al proportion to the relative num-
population OF the State. 1t il difficult to get
any accurate figures. for the census does not
ulstnSulSh muluttoes and blacks. The best
means have Of estimating are derived from
country congregations of negroes such as |
nave nave seen all my life. think not more than ak
DOT cent, oil them arc mulattoes. or course the
number Is much greater In towns, and I fcei
quite certain that the proportion Of mulattocs
IN .me wnoie state - ten per cent. OF tho negro
In the city schools the lowest grade contains
more pure Africans; aud the ratio OF mixed
higher classes OF the school.
II gives one painful feeling to look ut some
Some will undoubtedly 90 Off where they are
not known and pass for whites. In fact. know
that some are sent to school North In order to
get them away from colored associations.
know OF an instance where an octoroon girl
was sent to boarding school in New England.
ana remained lor year undiscovered. room
ing during the whole period with Southern
girl OF exclusive ass9ciations. One boy who
mssS ms rot w pua wn4sH parents wore
would perhaps have been allowed to remain
there undiseovered had he not bn,stei Of It;
baek 70 my childhood and my old negro nurse.
ber some one told inc what 1 was Vas doing yiia was
oGfdn'rary ofd s, to the law G and Tsmepbsr that an
don't let that concern you. II were to teach
them, perhaps might suffer in some way. But
learning to read was a different thing in those
GayI from what b, i is now; My pupil was very
spelling in that old blue backed Webster's :
Spelling Book. she invariably got sleepy and
fell to noddins. For yenrs Of my life no human
recolections OF her patient lace came over me
with great paihos MS sat listening to a lesson
in algebra
From first to last there is one great blunder
IN these universitics that Is making tho poor
freedmen spend SO much time on Latin. 1t
Is most striking Illustration Of asking for
bread and getting II stone. Superstition is one
OF their greatest weaknesses. and they need to
study nature, its laws. its certainty. order uni
t0rmity, to be made to think for themselves.
They might study CAESARS Commentaries for
ever and not be much improved.
- m il IN ri ipI
by giving the students some industrial train
ing. They have what they cal u school of car
and exercises them in planning work under his
criticism Aided BY a lirst-rate carpenter, lie
also superintends their execution aS thny
build the houses needed ON the college grounds.
The pupils are chiefly mulnttoes:
In Clarke University they design extending
their industrial department to other trades.
Mathematics Is taught with reasonable. sue
cess in these schools. have heard ROTATIONS
in some of the higher mental sciences. These
studies are calculated To rouse thought. But
the pupils seemed unfit for it, They. however.
lacked that discipline and training derived
from the proper study of physical science
sort of thinking. The method Of teaching. too.
matter is. think, that III these studies they i'm
bibe the opinions OF teachers and books. without
,oi course they have vocal music, and the
part oi visit to these schools l. to
the girls have calsthenics.
One thing has struck me very much with the
educated negroes | have known. 1t is that
they do not speak us good English. in some i'm
portant particulars as some Of the best class OF
oidSouthern house servants have known, who
lived in Intelligent families. and around the
table Of their owners heard n great deal of the
best conversation. Their language is more
% @ trsGf om sSeeNSmS but 4Hs hs sG[
can compensate for the lack OF intelligent as
sociations AT home. Among white people 1t
the lower stratum Qf society to be cultivated
gentleman or lady. There are EXCEPTIONS
where people have great natural qualifications.
Yet. think the negro race have a great faci-
ity OF speech. ! have seen many many OF their
| in writing. But it very often happens that
when they BECOME educated their language
loses its racy flavor and picturesque images.
and becomes a stiff, imperfect Imitation OF
! what they have read in books.
| The schools at Atlanta can hardly be said to
| show the progress of the human race. They
are schools Of mulattocs. and doubt not this
is equally true Of all the large negro colleges in
the education OF negroes, since the pupils of
these schools. furnish teachers all over the
| South. An Immensely large proportion of
them teach, and the demand for gradpate;s, to
| do this work is FAR beyond the supply. The
| feeling of caste, to think that drop Of negro
| fate OF the black and muattoes one, and is OF
advantage to the pure negro. doubt not il
blacks behind but they are forced to pull them
un, IL they wish 10 80 themseiycs m
The negroes are not beucttcd much until
proved But, OF course, the preparation OF
| teachers for them is Il step in that direction
! At present the public school system of Georgia
| has money To keep UP schools only threo
| months in the year The most favorable thing
| know is the. great interest the country ne
groeS feel in education. And know one some
! What remarkable fact bearing on this case
| There is county in Georgia already where
| below n certain age. the ratio of illucracy
| among whites is greater than among blacks
1t is. think. an isolated fact; the county is q
| very ignorant one.
II remains to say q few words as to the re-
! lation of whites to educated negroes The lat
ter are mostly teachers, hut u few Of the
! brighter and more ambitious are lawyers anC
! editors. | do not think the intelligent white,
! feel any opposition TO negro education. Man,
| do not like paying for it and unqueStiOnahy
the tendency is to separate the races. Thl
| educated negroes do. to u considerable extent
control the negro vote - .,-r.,r-~ns ant
! oclorcc--- -rr very ambitious Tor the socia
/ equality which is denied them. This state o
/ feeling is made stronger 10y the fact that Mt thI
! two universities social equality is practiscd
i. d.
VAS 1T garfield OR BL1INEP
/ ha. EIeId Nnr y 10 IL