Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-12-01
THE NEGRO PROBLEM
Prof. Brown Says He Must Work It
Out Himself.
The KEY TO IT Is SELF-HELP.

He Must Have Something, Know
Something and Be Somebody.
ERRORS OF EDUCATION.
An event among the colored people of the
city yesterday was the union Thanksgiving
service at Lincoln Memorial Church, be-
cause 1t was the occasion of an address
which produced a profound impression
The pastors and congregations of the Fiji
teenth Street Presbyterian Church, the
Church of Our Redeemer. Lutheran, and of
the Plymouth Congregational Church join
ed in the service. Prof Hugh NJ. Johnson
! of the High School delivered the address.
He referred to the recent paper of Dr. Har-
| ris. the commissioner of education. on the
negro problem. as the ablest. wisest and
most philosophical he had read. The negro
problem in this country today. he said is
| not how shall the United States or any po-
litical party secure for their colored citi-
zens the possession and exercise of the
| rights and privileges guaranteed to them
| by the Constitution and its amendments;
but it is. how shall the colored man Sc
| cure for himself the possession and exercise
Of these rights and privileges.
The plain and stubborn fact Of the whole
matter is this: The colored man Of this
country Is described in the mind of the
civilized world by three negatives. He has
nothing, he knows nothing and he is no
| body. 1t remains for the colored man to
change these three ms to three SIS: He has
,Afk
| somebody.
| The problem is how shall he best do this
| under existing conditions. This, to the
speakers mind. was the only negro problem
| in this country.
| Il have no patience" he said with those
shallow Drained men among US who think
| that to sit in the dearest seat in the theater
makes them the equals of the white men
VINO SIT about them. or to sit at the same
table in restaurant makes them the equals
OF Chauncey Depew and his friends. or to
hold a political office makes them the equals
vi nose whose genius. EFFORTS and growth
| created the office. They ALWAYS remind me
| or the African who thought he was civil
| lied and christianized when he donned a
suit of European clothes.
| NO assumption of the habiliments of our
white brothers progress will avail US any
| thlnS. nor deceive any one but ourselves
| We are to work out our own salvation
rms progress must become our progress
4
| this progress. We must put forth the
/ efforts which produced the civilization in
the midst of which We were born, and not
waste our strength in vain and udicrous
attempts to initiate the results of these
| efforts. III We would be Lincolns. Grants
and Garfields in the White House. we must
| cneerruiiy become rail splitters, tanners and
| canal boat drivers.
| How then shall we best do this under
| existing conditions? How shall we exchange
the three ms for the three SIS, so that the
n rrAler 49,
| thing, that we know something and that
we are somebody? We shall best accom-
pnsn this by doing with all our might that
N MniSn under the existing conditions our
hanos, minds and hearts find to do.
| Have Something.
I'VE shall gain most rapidly material DOS
sessions by performing the classes of work
open to us better than our competitors and
saving more of our earnings than they.
| %. how tired 1 am the speaker ex-
claimed, of the wailing of our people that
every avenue of wealth in this country is
open to the white man, but all are closed
to US. If We know anything of history. IL
we know anything of human nature. yea
If we know anything of Gods grace and
| providence, why can we not see that at
present the avenues which are closed to ma
| are the rivers ALBANIA and Pharpar. and
aVaii US nothing, while those avenues which
are open TO US, however humble and men
i
| If We would be healed
| Let us, he went on, do that which pre-
sents Itself better than all our competitors.
/ and thus become necessary tn those ~
| employ. This will secure for us the nrotsc1
/ tlon and lair treatment which we desire
| ana Will create a disposition in the emnIover
10 give us trials in other avocations At
present IL Is not near so important that We
should receive admission to new avenues of
/ laoor as 1t Is that catching the spirit of
progress and thrift of the day, we should
rai,ea IA nose 10 which We are already ad-
mitted-or. as that by skill, dexterity and
excellence. We should make the profits of
| our present opportunities purchase other
and better opportunities.
| In this connection | wish to make this
| opservation-and L tremble whenever n ia
| FORCED upon me. White men have risen to
wealth. and fame through the very classes
OF labor which We foolishly despise as men
lai and they are bringing science and art
INTO these today and elevating them he
yono our reach-taking away from the color
90 man even that which he hath In nv
boyhood days the household servants of the
wealthy In this section of the country were
colored, but now in the establishments of
the four hundred one finds the trained
Whlte servants, versed in household science
and domestic art Then the ribbons of
the private equipage were held by coIored
coachmen, but now they are handled ar
Ilsticaliy by the trained white man versed
IN veterinary science and the social Ell
quette OF his position. Then the walls and
ceilings OF these mansions received in the
spring their pure white dress from the
Whitewash brush of the colored man. hut
now they are decorated, frescoed etc., by
the skilled white artisan ~
Then old Uncle Jerry, with his long hfck
DRY switch and bran new broom Shook
the carpets of these mansions but now even
this Is done by business white man whose
shingle reads 'Ammoniated Steam Garnet
Cleaning Works." And SO on through the
whole category of work open to u.s.
Inc sequence to all this is very plain
to me, and forecasts a possible condition
more deplorable than the slavery throuob
which we have passed. We must avert this
saddest of all conditions by that persistent
self-activity which secures the largest pos
sible harvest in any field
Every physical popularity may be CON-
yerted by cunning of intellect into some
knack or aptitude which gives it's possessor
some advantage in productive industry To
this conversion we need to turn our atten-
ton and through it rise to that superior
2ift-.tha slrilI "a -.