Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-08-23
Continued from first page.
POPULAR EDUCATION.

lst Ii is di8metricaily opposed to the
civilization of the age.
| end 1t creates spirit of aversion and
hostility between the two races.
Srd. Ii debars the children of color from
having free access 20 the school apparatus
which their fathers, By the payment of taxes,
helped TO provide.
!, 4th 1t is difiicult If not impossible, for
one teacher. with so many different grades,
To do justice 10 all.
5th. 1t precludes that daily association
of children, one with the other, which has
a tendency to elevate the less intelligent.
9Th. Ii is cruel, as well as dangerous 20
health. 10 require a child to walk a dozen
squares to school through winter weather.
| 9TH. Such a system, If continued, will
inevitably burden the community with
a class of paupers, drunkards and culpritS.
because they will not face such disadyan-
tageS in securing an education.
Especially. would emphasize the second
and fifth arguments. And to show that
am not alone in my conviction, expressed
in the fifth argument, allow me to quote
sentence or two from Theodore Parker, one
of the most popular American preachers of
his day. Says he: Man is social in his
nature. To develop the individual into the
perfect man. men must mix and mingle.
Society Is IIlt COHuillOll Vi lliulNluudl ut-
yelopment Moses or Newton, living all
alone, would not have attained the human
dignity of clown or q savage; they would
never have mastered articulate speech; the
gregarious elephant, lonely eagle, would
surpaSs these men born 10 the mightiest
genius. Society, companionship of men, is
both a necessity and a comfort, good in
itself, means to other good. "
To every one, having any knowledge
of the laws of God and of human nature,
such review as this seems in accord with
reason.
Many Of you are aware that while We
cannot compel the school board to admit
our children into white schools, the laws OF
the state give us the right to demand equal
scho Il facilities. A revised statute of the
ONO school laws, page SO. section 1868,
says: IF the board of education of any
district fail in any year 10 estimate and GER
tify the levy for contingent fund, as re-
quired by this chapter, OF to provide Sufii-
cient school privilege for all the youth of
school age in the district, or to provide for
the continuance Of any school i'll the dis
trict for at least six months In the year, or
10 provide for each school at equitable
school advantages as required by the title
or to provide suitable school houses for all
sioners Of the county to which such district
belongs. upon being advised and satisfied
thereof shall do and perform any or all of
said duties and acts, in as full q manner as
the board Of education is by this title all-
thorized to do and perform the same. and
the members of board who cause such
failure shall be each severally liable, in a
penalty not exceeding fifty dollars nor less
than twenty-five dollars, to be recovered in
a civil action in the name of the state upon
| complaint of any electOr of the district.
which sum shall be collected by the prose
cutting attorney of the county, for the BEN
eft of the school OF schools OF the district"
The above law took effect January 1st
1880. Ii is both clear and explicit. And
claim that no school board has a right In
this state TO eject cOlOred children from
/ white schools, and throw up school houses
good enough for colored children in three
weeks" especially when said school houses
do not afford the same facilities. Such
an act Of injustice is not
/ what good citizens expect from
a metropolis known far and wide as the
centre Of intelligence and commercial enter
prise. l can understand why objection
should be made to the admission of untidy
and poorly-clad children into our daily
I
thoughtful and educated minds, who be-
lieve in the fatherhood OF God and the
brotherhood Of man, can legislate against
these innocent children solely on account of
color. do not condemn any man for re-
| fusing 10 associate with ill-clad and sullied
people. There are some among my own
race whose untidy appearance and uncouth
manners will not allow me TO affiliate with
/ them. And why should | wonder at the re-
/ fusal of others TO DO the same? / do not
wonder. What surprises me most is the
apparent inability of so many, blinded by
| prejudice to see through the dark skin of a
brother man into his soul-to see in him,
/ though black as midnight, the image of his
| creator.
| II is the proud boast of the American
| people today that this is the ''land of the
! free"-that no longer is our country cursed
with slavery. This is true in part; but only
so. So far as physical slavery is concerned
there is none. But not so intellectually
Many avenues of intellectual improvement
are still closed against some of us, partcu-
larly our race. In some localities more is
done TO keep us down than TO elevate us.
But it will not always be 50. The day is
dawnng. The world is moving. These
prejudces. fostered for years. are dying out;
our race, and annually making large con-
tributiOns for our moral, intellectual and re-
ligiOus improvement Let il not once be said
t ut any part of the north is man-
Testing spirit of apathy and in
difference in the work. When il Is remem-
bered that in this country we are 200, 600
strong, and that out of that number no less
than ), $50, 900 are practically illiterate; that
there are !, AZ, 900 voters, of whom ], 1885,
900 are unable TO read, and that there are
over 1000, 900 children of school age. of
whom only SOB, 900 are in school, who that
possesses human heart is not impressed
with the grave responsibility of doing all
he possibly can for the speedy evangeliza-
tion and elevation Of the colored race?
But il will be said by those wishing TO
justify themselves in their recent act, which
forbids colOred children attending white
schools, that they are impressed with the
responsibility of doing their duty, and that
they are doing il But let us see. Are
they doing their duty when they compel
delicate cUlored girls TO walk dozen squares
or more TO and from school three or four
times day, and that, too, in
the winter? Are they doing their duty,
when they crowd colOred children so closely
together in one school that one teacher has
to have the care of a hundred or more
pupils? Are they doing their duty, when |
they allow the children to sit within eighteen |
inches of the stove in the winter season !
Are they doing their duty. when they have |
the audacity to fit up room in a dark, |
damp cellar for young children of delicate |
constitution Is this evidence of having |
done ones duty? No, thrice no. Every |
fair minded and cOnsideTate man will CON |
denim such acts of injustice. 1t is shame
for state like Ohio, having 50 great edu-
catiOnal facilities, and containing so many
loyal men and women who. years age, by /
pen and sword, did 50 much to free the ex-
slave. to tolerate such a wretched state of |
affairs. They are disgrsceful and wrong.