The American citizen. [volume] (Topeka, Kan.) 1888-1909, 1889-07-19
WE SHALL STAY.

little space IN your already crowded
paper, | would like to say something
in reply to an article which appeared
in your issue of July 5th-one which
should be ventilated and agitated by
the colored people of this country.
The question is asked and discussed
at some length, "Shall We go or
stay?' | answer, both. Dc you ask
where? Let US stay in America,
where We belong; and let us go to
work. The great obstacle to be over
come is prejudice; another great
drawback to the Afro,American is
lack of energy and stick, to-itiveness.
The breaking down of prejudice is
the great end to be attained; money,
education and morality are the means
by which this end must be accom-
plished. The writer says that the
Afro American has fought nobly
against prejudice, but laments that
nothing has been gained, and that he
has accepted the inevitable Does
the writer mean to say that we are
where we were twenty-five years ago,
financially, socially, politically, men
tally or morally? The facts are too
plain and numerous to the contrary
to need mentioning. The inevitable,
what is it? To me the inevitable
seems to be just this; Here we are, a
few millions of blacks, scattered
among many millions of whites; our
every day life brings us face to face
with them. We are part of the
American people; and under the
American form of government, by
the way, the best the world has ever
known, we must necessarily associate
with the whites sooner or later. The
time will come when the whites and
: blacks will attend the same school,
the same church, put up at the same
hotel, ride in the same car, and will
intermarry more than they do today
and throughout the length am
: breadth, of the country.
q To us it is matter of "Sink o
# swim, live or die, survive or perish.
;. Will the Afro American accept tn
- writer's view of the inevitable an
) throw up his hands in despair afte
e short space of a quarter of cent
: ury, and die; or will he accept m.
n view of the inevitable with the spir.
!. of one prepared for battle, and wit
n the determination to prove the clalI
20 he has made-that he is a man, wit
ge all the capabilities of any other race
in How long will it take to eradica
tv this race prejudice? 1t depends G
20 circumstances whether it will take
a halfa century, a century, or ny
"a centuries. Such obstacles cannot
Of removed in a few years. 1t will
nd harder to break down this race pre-
he dice than it was to break down te
a. dalism, or to accomplish the work
the crusades, or to reconcile t
Israelites and the Egyptians.
took centuries to accomplish each
N these; and | am afraid it Will take
to like period to fully reconcile t
n whites and blacks. But should '
n be daunted because the time seel
&C long and the task difficult? To g
&c somewhere" now in order to ave
ina the difficulties we Will nave 10 NE
the would be cOwardly. and would maj
,ns fest the appearance of inferiority.
Md has been my experience that
,ut best way to overcome prejudice is
,av stay where it exists and prove &c
has superiority. Let those who prea
Mr.. LET US 60 somewhere, e. explain h
ON race prejudice can ever be broS
ner down by budding the colored peo
ASS off somewhere to Themselves.
ire there less prejudice existing agar
lis a native African than against US h
. i in America? No, but the contr
J: it is true. Why! Simply because
the are Industrious, civilized and int
- ran. said that money, educat