The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-11-09
A STUDY OF THE NEGRO.
PHASES OF HIS PSYCHOLOGY
AND DIALECT.

PHASES OF HIS PSfCHOlOGf
AND DIALECT.
A Careful and Thoughtful Paper by
Professor James A. Harrison. at wash
ington and Lee University - some
Writers
II is curious how recent discovery the
negro is psychologically and linguistically.
For generations he had worked in the cot
ton fields and rice plantations without ever
attracting more than a passing notice.
That he mad "P' ychology'' or dialect
never occurred TO people Of polite ear and
cultivated association. or II It did the
thought was dismissed with a smile or
shrug peculiar 10 folk perfectly connected
with themselves. The negroes-an i'm
ported. hot a conquered or heotized race
rrew I'D among US in the South silently. |
multitudipOusly, from hundreds 10 thous- |
ands. from thousands to hundreds Of thous- |
ands. from hundreds Of thousands TO mil |
lions. until AT last they Outnumber the
population OF many white Kingdom or
Caucasian princlpality, and CONSTITUTE
through their entanglements with the enFl-
rOnng whites one Of the most complex
problems of American civilization.
QUESTION.
Is il possible that a people so numerous
should be destitute Of individuality, tree
from Distinguishing traits. without mental
ATTITUDES and eccentriclties peculiar To
themselves! Simple, ignorant, untaught As
they were, was it possible for them 10 re-
main without edge or sharpness Of s0ul-liie,
mass that had never developed outline or
featute, Black sea over which never a
storm had swept or an emotion nickered
This would have been a singular condition
OF things indeed. Even the llelOts emerge
from the dim pages OF Plutarch touched
with an indiyidualizing light Of their own
though SO many centuries have wrought on
the ellacement OF feature and outline.
The nbbling tongue OF Time has failed
10 remove more than the incrusta-
ton OF enyirOning traits that clothed
the abOrignes of Sparta in a garment OF
their own. and left them for Us rs distinct
factors in PelOpOnnesan life. The Roman
slave-life evolved eloquent and noble IN
terDTeters Of ITSELF and LETT behind III
Epictetus and Horace as memorials OF what
it could do. The Aryan blood may be maze
up Of more penetrating acids and alkailes,
may be endowed with deeper psycholOHes
and more far-rcaching intellectual vision
than its kindred humanities; but TO keener
eve, closer observation. these unrecog-
nlzed humanitles are no less lraught Win
passion and ambition, with germs OF nigh
er life, with possibilities Of distinct type
with interesting and charming traits OF SOUL
than the iyOry-skinned skeptics by whom
they are surrendered.
NIMBLE WITS AT WORK.
IL could not but be that so many millions
of folks, highly gifted in many ways, herd
ed together in certain localities, cut of
from association with the whites, ana
thrown upon their own resources, should
set their nimbe wits % work 10 generate
supersiitions and Obseryances all their own.
should develop a psychology naive ana
singular i'm high degree, should work out
peculiar themes Of poetry and song belong
ing to themselves, and should compile an
ethical system full OF teuets and paragraphs
not found in any existing Jurisdiction
whether Mosaic, solonian or Napoleonic.
urMoR AND DfAGfNATIoN.
4 race so richly endowed with hum0r and
Imagination, so Oriental in origin and in
turn Of mind, could not but reyel m a sen
suous world around, endOw il with tongue
ana lOcOmOtion. converse with it rs -Esop
dil with his animal world, and clOtbe 10 m
figure and metaphor until ineXtricable con-
fusion took place. and the Individual hardly
knew whether tne world be walked in was
one of phantasins or Of realities. \ negro
driving his cow 10 pasture talks TO 1t as II
il were an intelligent being, tells 1t where DO
IS going, bids il hurry or c0niides to 1t the
secrets Of his heart and all This is IN a per
fectly unconscious way. And how the eyes
ola black nurse at the bedside Of sick
person VIII pop" If "a sparrow flies in al
one window and out at another. To her
such an omen is fun Of evil. and her spin
ming and weaving Imagination viii NOT
leave it till it has spun and woven q
winding-sheet IL is hummng and
drumming race, melOdiZed from some far
OF Hes or African interior.
ECHOES IL THE SOUTH.
The woods Of the South echo with beauti-
ful voices that have strange pathOs ID
them as they minge with the ring OF the
AK, and are repiete with memories OF AMI
NAL aud human life. 4 museum Of bronzes
seems suddenly 10 have come % life when
the feet in the lOg-cabin begin To twinkle,
and the eyer-present rhythm OF lne negro
consciousness. asleep for moment, wakes
to the irresistible dance. \ "corn-shuck-
ing" or a "cake-walk,' would flash in upon
YOU more items Of negro psychology than
YOU could gain from the most elaborate dis
sertatiOn. The mimctic instinct of the race
is so strong and has become so defined
through hereditary transmission that one is
often az a loss 20 distinguish between origl-
nal endOwmCnts and initiative apprOpria-
ton. one of the most enjoyable phases OF
negro lie is its mimiCry Of "whIte folks
ways and manners, the exquisite humor Of
the situation being a. consciously rellshed
by the negro as by the White.
loss lO' MANNERS"
80. en-.
hellished by manners as elegant. by prOpne-
ties rs strictly observed. as the choicest
salons Of the cities have TO show. Words !
of "learned length" then roll elusyely |
from between rows Of ivory teeth. IL mat |
ters little whether the user understands |
them or not and the most delicious Mrs. |
Partingt0nisms are the order of the even !
ing. All the while the gurgles Of merri- |
ment show that the guests take IN the |
humOr OF the situation and are yiyaclousy |
alive to its comic sides. The negro. indeed |
has never been appreciated in the matter Of
manners. so ''dOne loss yO' manners il |
the greatest repg0ach that can possibly |
be- made 10 person Of African race.
The loss OF chastity is slight In COM
parisOn. The beauty Of negro manners |
consists i'm their spOntaneity, readiness.
gentleness. and smiling selEpOssesslOn.
They are quick 20 respond to urbanity o!
manner IN white people, and where IN
quickness is welded to Latin suayity and
grace, As IL is in Louisiana. it becomes
Characteristic positively memorable and de-
lightful. 70 "fergit yO' Manners then,
according % the negro code, is little shOri
Of an objectionable ohense; you may stay
away from church or violate every prohibit
ton in the de 'alOg with easier possibilities
Ofindulgence.
OTHER CHARACTERISTICS.
But not only in all these particulars, in
superstitiOns, musical gifts, mimetic in
stinct. and manners is the psychology OF
the black race trenchant and distinguish
able TO a degree, but when it comes to more
serious matters-tO matters OF religion and
OF faith-its individuality is positive and
emphatic beyond the conception Of those I'M
familiar with the workings Of the religious
spirit in men Of oriental race. The negro
soul is nothing il not red hot. IL tingles
and tntinnabulates at the slightest religious
pressure and its response is antiphOnal IN
ferv0r aud drectness. \ negro preacher is
nearly always q poet: in him the