The Appeal., 1889-10-19

palace ~ Washlngtopayenue South.e
! COLOR o CASTE, A 81
An Admirable Paper Showing
Its Inconsistency and
Injustice by
Rev. John Snyder i'm the Forum.
We give below portion of an article
by Rev. John Snyder of St. Louis which
appeared in the current number of the
Forum and which contains such clear
insight into the subject, and is such a
frank confession in regard to the incon-
sistent color prejudice which exists only
in this. country that we desire to give
our readers the benefit of it. Would to
God there were more white men who
viewed the sisSation through Mr.. Sny-
der's glasses. -,
"Here is race that has, lived with us
since the beginning Of our history. Be-
tween it and ourselves there Iave been
no conflicts or anim6sities leaving their
ineradicable scars upon the national feel
ing. There are No bitter memories such
as disfgure the annals of alien races that
have been forced into reluctant COM
panicnship. With all his faults, the Col
ored man has been patient, affection.
ate, tractable element of our social life.
And yet he has been subjected to social
indignities that have no parallel in his
tory outside of5the barbarous caste sys-
tenn of India. Socially his life is passed
in an atmosphere Of aggravating insults.
In railway cars, steam boats, hotels and
theaters he is treated, lin large sections
of this country, as ifhe were tainted
with leprosy In domestic service, the
filthiest and most ignorant Irish or Ger
man servant refuses to eat at the same
table with the cleanest and most re-
spectacle Colored man. In some OF our
hotels the wealthiest Colored man in the
land could not purchase, at any price,
the privilege Of sitting in the common
dinning room, or ofoccupying one of the
sleeping apartments. Industrially he is
practically restricted to 'beggariy &C.
count" of the least profitable and most
menial trades. Those labor unions
which complain so bitterly of the op-
preston Of capital, and announce uto-
plan principles of universal brotherhood, ,
DC not dare to cast their mantle of pro-
lection over the despised and neglected
laborer with black skin. But saddest
Of all is the attitude which the Church
has held towards this spirit of color
caste. ideally, at least, the Church is
the home of human equality. All classes
and conditions of men are supposed to
meet there on common ground. And
while we constantly depart from this
principle in practice, we usually try to
cover and disguise our shortcomings by
a thin veil of self-ex ulpation. We may
not want the poor and poorly dressed
man sitting in our pews, but we rarely
make a frank confession of the fact.
Only the Colored mAn is openly, and bv
common consent, excluded from the
broad definition Of Christian equality.
We have not yet accepted Mr.. Nasby's
advice, and altered our versiou of the
New Testament so that it shall read,
"Sufer the little (wbite) children to
come unto me-" but it would be quite
consistent for us to do so. Some years
ago a great revival was going on in one
of the churches of my own city. The
Evangelist was feryidly inviting all kinds
of people to come tothe ''anxious seat.''
Crowds. OF men, women and children
were accepting the invitation. Tramps,
drunkards and beggars were among the
nun ber. At last it was announced to
the church officials that Colored man,
upon one of the back seats. was "under
conviction" Here was a problem OF
series import. The officials held hur-
ried AMI anxious consultation, and it
was finally decided that the Colored
man might receive the benefit of Saliva.
ton in an in conspicuous pew. This
case might fairly be termed exceptional
if it were not true that one of the larges,
and most influential denominations in
the land, having been split i'll half by the
question of slavery, remains in that con.
dition to-day, solely on the question Of
color caste.
This condition of things would cease
to be mysterious if it were based upor
recognized physiological reasons. We
can easily understand Brabantio's eur
prise when his daughter became enam
ored of a thick-lipped African, or Aunt
Ophelia's disgust at seeing Eva hanging
i about the neck of Uncle Tom. We are
not disposed to question the gooc
Puritan's conviction that loye 70,
the pure Colored man is s'an ac
quired TASTE But we entertair
the same personal and social re
pungance for every possible modification
J (cosr1suED On SECOND rAeE.)