The Washington bee. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1884-1922, 1895-06-29
New Leaders for the Negroes.
From the Washington Post.l


The Washington Bee. an organ Of the
cOlOred people, edited by MT. ". Calvin
Chase, Of whom we have lately heard
great deal. is of the opinion that the
Negroes III this country need new lead
ership. II says:
What the Negro wants II this busy Ameri-
can body polite is DeE leadership, That tn :
old representatives Of the rare have proven
themselves tn be emagUgnes, hypocfites.
and knayes. Their few rK has been the
accumulate OF wealth for no other use than
10 disgrace their memo Y. That Negro lead.
ership has been a failure and mockery 10
civilization Is but mild way 10 express it.
We quite agree that t Q leadership
under which the ctl people have
languiShed for the past twenty-five or
thirty years has been bad-very, very
bad: but we do not agree that they need
new one Why should the Negroes,
as such, have any leaders at all: They
are citizens with the same rights under
the law as the whiteS-why should they
he led by anybody, and to what end OF
purpose led They have been free and
equal for thirty years or more. They
constantly protest that they wish 10 be
regarded as American citizens. Why,
then, segregate themselves, set up a
barrier of race between white and black
and appoint 8 leader :" Why organize
for the purpose of reminding the world
that they are race apart
1t seems to Us that what the Negro
needs more than anything else is i'm
mediate and final emancipation from
leaders and leadership of every kind,
and especially from the leadership of
the professional colored man. He will
never raise himself in the social scale
by taking part in Il concerted action of
the race. Society will concede to indi-
vidual merit what it Will never concede
to any class organized for the purpose
of demanding recognition. Society will
accord TO this or any other race what it
might, unasked, accord to a person
worthy Of the privilege in controversy.
1t is this very segregation, 1T is this very
class array. il is this very : leadership"
which makes the social advancement of
the Negro impossible. The world will
not accept the -,egrOeS in bulk, and the
SCORER they realize that fact the better
for them and their hopes in life. The
leadership they really need is the lead
ership Of personal integrity, personal
industry, self-respect, and individual
manhood-the same leadership the
whites acknowledge and in the follow
ing which true merit reaps its just re-
ward.
Our esteemed and learned con-
temporary the Washington Post,
certainly sustains the position, with
but one exception, that has been
held by The BEE for several years
The BEE has always maintained
that Negro leadership was failure
and that there was no need of
Negro leadership, except power
full press; such press that would
not be subjected to toadylsm and
other hypocritlcal methods that
would tend to degrade the Negro.
Heretofore the Negroes have
followed one class Of representa-
tives, who have been successful in
obtaining the ear of every admin.
istTation and to a great extent have
used the official patronage for their
self-aggrandizement.
The crafty politicians have held
their hold on the ignorant masses
by virtue of false representation to
the powers that be.
The leadership we need is to
teach the people new methods, new
ideas, and as our contemporary
to emGncipate them from
political slavery.
Organization am 0ng all national.
tiles is an absolute necessity.
The Negroes have the same right 7
% organize as the Irish, Dutch,
Germans, and the Jews.
The organizations of the Anglo
Saxons are Iecogniz- d in this coun
try as great factors IN the American
body-politic. 1t is in organization
hat the Negro expects to become
recognized factor. II is not expected
hat all the Negroes will be recog-
Iized any more than the white
nan /; but, the Negroes do expect
md demand fair treatment as any
ther American citizen.
Lit is not social equality that the
Negro is after it is not his desire
0 thrust himself upon the white
,eople socially, any more SO than a
White man of inferior standing'