The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1885-08-20
n0L0RRD HIM

THE C0L0RED MEN.
Chicago Tribune: Last week was a
memorable one with the colored people,
bringing as It did day Of mourning AZ
time when they usually celebrate the
anniversary Of complete emancipation.
The burial Of the man whom the negroes
hold second only to Lincoln was an
event Of universal sorrow among them,
and they allowed even the day Of jubilee
70 pass with but few and faint attempts
to celebrate It. Yet wherever service
was held in honor of Grant the negroes
Joined in with an earnestness and sin
cerlty beyond all question, and, as the
event proved, with gravity and pro-
priety Of decoEum well worthy the imi-
tation OF many whites. No instance is
reported CT any negroes violating the
prophecies of the day by any thought
less OF boorIsh act. Immediately after
Grants death negro in New York DIS
played In his window portrait Of the
dead General over the inscription: HE
stirred the coloFed people everywhere,
and their part In the obsequies furnish
ed the best evidence 10 prove that they
had within the grief that passes out
ward show. With ali their native love
for pageantrY and display they were not
on the occasion of Grants funeTal to be
betrayed into the slightest unseemly act.
Every occasion that brings the cOlored
people prominently before the public eye
may well serve to prove the wonderful
progress they have made in the last
twenty years. Considering the load un-
der which they began the life Of free
men-the inheritance of poverty, igno-
rance, and degradation passed down 10
them from the days of slaveFy-the adj
vance Of the negroes in the last twenty
years is unequaled Where can another
instance be found Of a race lifting It.
self from slavery into an intelligent citi-
zenship in that periOnd Of time? 1t Is
not necessary to cite the Douglasses,
Bruces, Langstons. and Lynches, who,
by virtue of character and ability, have
conquered the most inveterate race pre-
JUDGES and indicated their right TO a
place among the first. The progress
made by the rank and Ole is equally
plain and not to be denied by any can
did person. The negroes have not sim
ply maintained an even competition with
whites who started on the same level,
but as q class they have advanced won
derfullY and conquered obstacles that
many men OF the selt-styled superior race
never endeavorcd 20 surmOunt. The day
has gone by when negroes are TO be class
cd AZ the lowest element of population
in this county. In any Northern COM
munity where considerable number Of
them is to be found there are men among
them who have gained position that a
majority of white men may we'll envy,
and as q class they have advanced far
beyond other races IN similar circum-
stances. Their record since emancipa-
ton Is one Of the highest credit and gives
excellent promise for the future.
Freedom was u most powerful stimu-
liant TO the negro race. People who re-
member the state of affairs after the close
of the war must recall the efforts of the
freedmen to wipe out the disgrace Of IL.
IiteTacy. Every negro had spelling
book and his spare hours were occupied
in desperate efforts to master the alpha
bet. The struggle proved a hopeless
one to many a negro who had been rear
ed under the tutelage of slavery, the
age of tuition had passed and the
new lessons were not 70 be learned by
any kind of an effort. Still these people,
approaching the advantages of educa-
ton as few IN their circumstances ever
have done, were determined that their
children at least should learn to read
and write and master the lessons that
were beyond the reach of those who had
been reared as plantation slaves. The
results are seen to-day. How few ne
groes in the north under the age OF thir-
ty five who are unable to read and write!
Freedmen who left the plantation to come
north made education the very religion
OF their families, and as the result their
children to-day stand many degrees
higher in the scale of intelligence. The
negroes whose childhood came after
emancipation are nearly all able to read
and write and follow the events of the
day with intelligent interest. They are
risirg in intelligence, succeeding in bus
ness and indicating every day the wise
policy that elevated them from slavery
to citizenship.
The advance of the negroes during the
last twenty years has been In the face oil
appalling difficulties. With no meanS
OF support except the cheapest kind OF
unskIlled labor, and an inheritance made
up only of ignorance and poverty, they
began the hard struggle. and have since
fought every step of the way against The
most lnveterate of race prejudices. Still
they had much TO encourage them. Free
dom alone was a strong incentive. anC
after thus they found a great politIca
party To take up their cause, and strug-
gle TO give them equal rights and a fai
field. After brief struggle the frel
schools were opened to them, and theI
came the grant to citizenship, which
was a stimulus almost equal to that O
emancipation. The sense OF increasing
dignity and responsibility spurred then
TO renewed efforts, and as result Their,
has been an advance in the condition o
tho negroes that is little less thai
astounding. Few were ready TO predic
twenty years ago that the freedmen
would IN the course of a generation be
come as useful, intelligent, and progress
sive class of people as they are to-day
On the other hand, few realize wha
great progress the negroes have made
unless by comparison with their condi
ton twenty years ago.
DANFORD.