Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1889-11-12
The NEGRO.

In the BLACK mans miJd there seems to
exis soft Of vague iGes Of the existence
OF q e .nbuaiiuu CT the spirits OF John
Rtown and Abraham Lincoln allied /"
NenIe sis like power somewhere Norta, hor.
erina ia son bte shadow hold NJ tie negrcs',
destines, ready for iiaobedieuca 10 i, Il ct
IS FIJI punishment upon bin, an impiec cib!e
enemy of the thing called democratic party,
and warning him thai the mission of The
thing called democratic party is to put him
back into slavery M words can convey
an exact appreciation of the power of this
illusion over the ex.slave's mind. 1t seems
to have some Of his ecatatce!y emotional
religion 10 it.
An average plantation negro, while giving
in his singing way the details OF the specla!
visit of the angel Gabrie! to him, is 30 sbso
lutely out of himstlf that cannon fired at
his aide cannot distract him from The recital
of the event, and yet by some strange in
stiuc;, wien iD one Of these frances, he will
from n crowd # whites ana blacks pick out
only the blacks with whom 10 shake hands.
The average white Virgnian is familiar
with such pictures when the converted will
seiZs the hau1 Of one ef his race aud work
it like pump handle for ten or 6ftsen min
utes, makingit beat 10 lime with his song OF
10Y. And the same supersttiCus nature
forces every negro to give the hand for this
wearyiug process Aud at The same time
the recipient of the great disclosure will
| look half sheepisby ana half apologeticaly
| to any white man who may be an observer,
| as though uneasily ashamed OF it. What,
| then is the nature and mode of reasoning of
| this strange being in the South The ma
| tive white can scarcely answer, for OF creeds
aad inner political beliefs the negro viii!
talk last of all to the white man, who
| is to-day as incapable Of knowing the
processes of the uegro's mind as when
the African was landed here slave.
The average Southerper will tell the in
vestigator that be cannot discern any i'm
provenent in the moral nature of the negro
who has gone through ,bs process of con.
version, except that the act of dancing is
regarded ss sure to result in eternal damna-
tion A Richmond sergeant OF police
standing on The corner at midnight when
the vast black throog was moving by dur
ing one of these periods Of conversion, ex
pressed o prevalent idea in curious way
When he said THE very roostere on this
street know when bigger Is gettng con
Verted, and tney don't dare to crow as long
as the church is Open" But in the cities
there is, among the better informed Of the
black race, small and growing class wboee
morality is on the increase, and who are
slowly drifting away f;om the superstitions
of their race Some of them openly vote
the democratic ticket. Others do not vote
at ALL This class is the highest in the col
ored social scale, is undoubtedly the best
informed end most conservative, and the
most generally well 10 do. II these men do
not come nearer than the rest of their race
to reading ;he minds of white men they
certainly come nearer in physical contest
with those minds, for their profession re-
quires the constant handling of the casket
which holds the Caucasian brain. This class
then is compose OF the barbers They are
| the most sensible, the most conservative,
and the most ready to vote against the ma
| joriy of their race.-Neac York Sun