Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1895-08-07
THE COMMON NEGRO.

IdE COMuON NEOHO.
Emmett J. Scott, the negro editor OF
the Texas Freeman, in an article in
the Monthly Recieav, of Boston, on the
"The Common Negro" says
"There are many who object to q
discussion of the shortcomings of the
race in lhe public prints, and there are
others equally persistent in the conten-
ton that the race needs prodding, so
that it can mend and heal up the exist
ing eyesores of evil. There can really
be no denial that we have among us a
vicious element that lacks race pride
and is without the saving grace of am
bition to rise to either higher moral
or intellectual altitude. 1t is a con-
ceded fact that the odium cast upon the
race by all the other elements of our
citizenship is due to the continued and
inexcusable conduct of this element, and
yet it can hardly seem fair for the more
favored, intellectual, and ambitious
element to leave these people to their
fate. They certainly do not merit our
respect, but the duty we owe to our
selves is to assist in the regeneration and
education of these people. They are
of us, and their conduct, whether
good or evil, affects us in the
eyes of other people. Let US begin sys-
tematic crusade that will tend to lift
them up morally and intellectually.
The issue had as well be met now as
later. We alone have the duty of look
ing out for class Of our people who
have DO interest in their own welfare.
''It is worth a great deal to have
thoughtful Afro-Americans recognize
that they have large vicious element
among them, and that they are directly
affected in their relations with the
whites by the lawless acts of this ele-
ment. The fact has not been gen
orally acknowledged heretofore; on
the contrary, when q black man has
committed crime and been made to
snffer for it, he has too often been
exalted into a martyr by those OF his
race who, by reason of their character
and position, belong on the side of law
and order. Instead of restraining the
whites, this has not only incited them
to further acts of vengeance but caused
them very generally to class all ne
groes as upon the same level of
morality.
"The generation of negroes born since
the war are just beginning to feel their
OATS A vast army of them in the
south are without the habits of sus-
tanned industry and of self.restraint
possessed by their fathers, educated in
the school of slavery. They care moth
Jag for the law and the officers Of the
law. They are constantly in con-
flict with these and with the exasper-
ated public opinion of their vicinage.
They are enemies of society, and in the
interest of society should be placed
where they can do the least harm.
An orderly administration of the laws
everywhere is the best safeguard that society
can have, but our Afro-American fellow citi-
zens damage their cause when they persis-
tently place themselves on the side of the
criminal element of their race, in defiance of
law and public opinion. To recognize the
existence OF this criminal element and labor
to lift them up morally and intellectually"
as MIR. Scott suggests, would be far more
wise and judicious course to pursue. 1t is
never safe to Justify the existence of abuses
of whatever sort; a manly recognition of them
and an honest effort to correct them will al
ways command respect of those whose respect
is worth having
"The common negro" is natural product
of slavery and the raction from slavery and
He is in evidencein every southern COM
munity and in few of the northern
and western ones. He complicates the
race problem. He makes difficult the
pathway of the honest, respectable, and
ambitious members of his race He is too of
ten, it is true, made the standard by which
his whole race is judged, but under the cir
camstances this is unavoidable. An honest
admission that he exists and that he is to be
dealt with just as the criminal members of
other races of the population are will be of
lncalculable advantage to Afro-Americans
and to society generally.