The Afro-American. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1892-1899, 1895-10-19


only the wild flowers grow. Itmay
be further replied, that it is the
duty of Afro-Americans, to carry
the privileges he enjoys to his be-
nighted brethrenin Africa. This
if admitted, negatives the assertion
that he is in need Of, an ii denied
such privileges in the United States
and if he does not possess them in
the United States, wherein can he
give them to his brethren IN Afri-
"a w be benefit to them2
The founder Of American ma
ton who came over in tie May
flower and planted civilization on
Plymouth Rock, themselves pos
sessed civilization in the arts, in
in science, in industry, in wealth,
in craftsmanship, in agriculture, in
ship-building and the like. Like
the Afro American, they are de-
MED their rights of representation
although taxed, denied. their liberty
by arbitrary power, d sguised I'M
der the cloak Of civil government
but they were advanced in the
knowledge Of government, posses
ed Of arms to defend themselves,
and prepared to establish an indie
pendent civil government. They
had the sympathy Of strong nations.
Not 50 with the Afro-American
who goes to Africa, When he
reaches Africa, h3 secures liberty
il the abstract; but fails to receive
its blessings, viz: the environments
Of civilization. ! do not mean that
the people Of Liberia are uncivlliz-
ed in the sense that they are either
heathens or barbarians; but that
they do not possess the appliances
VIZ: wealth, ships, manufactures,
science, art, schools, colleges, etc,
to any extent is undeniable. What
does it avail that 80 per cent of a
mountain liz Africa is solid metal,
if the negro has not the means to
utilize it! And if the Afro Amer
lean has these means in the United
States, why does he not apply
them here first, and afterwards in
Africa! Buy steamboats,, merchant
vessels, operate mines, build rail
roads here, if you can, Bishop Tur-
ner, and then you will prove your
ability to do the same, so necessary
to the civilization Of any people any
where upon the face Of the globe.
The negro's vote may be counted
out but never his dollars.
The negro problem lis a battle
for onr rights ii the country Of our
birth " adoption, in the land
which the sweat of our brows has
enriched, which our strong arm in
battle has helped to snatch from
ruin and DESTRUCTION In this strug
gle, we have gradually gained up,
Oh our enemies, carrying our ban
ner Of progress upward daily. The
evils we suffer are less than those
we suffered twenty or thirty years
ago. And although the supreme
court by its decision has made the
civil rights law nullity, as an or
ganic law, yet the states are year
by year, as the American idea of
human rights gets clearer and clear,
err, and the law of the fatherhood
of God and the brother hood of
man, more practically recognized,
making this same law within their
limits, vide Ohio, New York and
Michigan. The trouble is not with
the law, it is with politics, and
the greatest evil the Afro-Ameri-
can suffers is the deprivation of
the ballot in the states.
It is cowardly to leave the fight,
although long and wearisome,
when We behold the victories al
ready gained. We have not been
longer in our struggle for human
rights that the English in the thir-
w years war Of til J roses fol kingly
power, or the Jew in Egypt for
national restoration. Take cour-
age Brother Turner. We will re-
deem Africa, as | believe it is our
destiny to do when we are fitted
to do SO. Liberia will grow as
Republic and as a nation, when she
receives that commercial recogni-
ton whidh gave other infant Re
.publics strength and courage. Chris
tan nations are at fault when they
blame the black republic for slow
growth, and refuse her national