Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-09-30
The Exposition Means Progress for
the Black Man.
EXCELLENT EXHIBITS OF Els WORK
Comment of Southerners on the
Situation.
RACE PROBLEM SOLVED


concerning it's meaning as developed by the
interest. Like all other expositions. there is
delay in the preparation of the exhibits.
Hitches are expected in getting the big
machine into running order, but the uni
versal testimony Of exposition experts is
that there is less Of this than there has
been on other similar occasions.
It sounded very large-the claim made by
the men Of Atlanta that their exposition
would be second only to the worlds fair-but
now that the gates have been opened and
the show stands for itself, the practical
evidence in support of that assertion is here
and close study OF all the material facts
shows that the claim was not unfounded.
For the first time in the history of the
world city Of 100000 Inhabitants has pre-
pared an international exposition. 1t is
genuinely big affair. Without the backing
of any government. with very little none
tary support from state or the municipality,
the Atlanta exposition builders have Gre
ated an enterprise which stands out as one
of the great eXpositions of the world. There
is not, of course, the bulk here, but in varie-
ty and in quality, and especially in dis
tirctive features the exposition has more
than fulfilled expectations.
Has the Race Problem Been Solved:
If I were asked what was-the salient
feature of the enterprise as developed upon
the opening day, would say without hest
tation. the great forward step which was
taken in the solution of the so-called race
problem" which has troubled the poll
ticians and the missionaries. The spectacle
of negro man speaking from the same
platform and to the same audience as the
representative of southern orators of the
white race, is one which has never before
been seen in the south in any save polit-
iCal movement 1t shows that the south of
tcday-the new SOUTH if you will. the
pre- gressive south as it is-has placed the
negro who deserves it upon a plane of
equality, so far as his relations toward the
body polite in public way are concerned.
with the white man.
1t is not social equality in any sense. 1t
is, however, the equality which the think
ing men of his race have asked for the
negro-the recognition of the progress
which he has made and is making in his
own development, and the recognition of
that development as a factor in the uni
versal civilization.
Prof. Washington is perhaps the best
representative OF these colored men who
have devoted their lives to the develop
ment of their race upon practical lines.
Born slave. the craving for an education
came to him as 4 boy, and he worked his
way through a southern institution OF in
dustrial learning. eventually to become one
If the foremost educators on that same
line.
The Speech Was n Hit.
Prof. Washington's speech was unques-
t;onably the hit of the opening exercises.
1t may seem frivolous to use such word
as hit in referring to what is really a
philosophical study of the negro today
but refer particularly to the reception of
the speech The speaker was most enthu-
siastically applauded, and his words had a
telling effect. AS Editor Howell of the At
| lanta Constitution put 1t, There was not
one word in the speech which would have
eliminated had the editing of it fallen to
me-" 1t was a clean. clear statement of
the position of the thinking, the advancing
negro of today.
The time has passed when no distinction
is made between the good men of the race
and the bad. For years after he was in
vested with citizenship the southern negro
was represented almost entirely by a mass
of ignorant, shiftless, happy-go-lucky ne
groes of the old minstrel type on the one
hand and Of the insolent, corrupt politician
on the other. The politician was shrewd
enough to manipulate the ignorant horde,
and the result was that the entire race had
to bear the burden of this conglomeration.
The New Negro Has Come.
Slowly at first, but surely, the develop
ment has gone on through the aid of such
men as Washington, and the new negro has
come. His development is one of the most
interesting studies in the history of Ameri-
can civilization. He has accomplished
much. At first he was handicapped by the
mistaken and misplaced philanthropy of
northern sentimentalists, and his education
was on lines which, far from being valu-
able were directly the reverse. But the
men of the Washington type saw where
the mistakes were and set about to correct
them.
The good work Is moving on. The recog-
| milton which this work has received at the
hands of the broad-minded men who have
had in charge this great southern enter
prise marks the most important epoch in
that development. The negro has received
his recognition from the south and he will
have the hearty cooperation and sincere
assistance of his white fellow citizens to
whom the solution of this race problem
means the most
Indeed, as ex-Gov. Bullock, who pre-
sided at the exercises, said today, the
problem has been solved.
Bullock's Part in 1t.
Perhaps no man In America could have
been so keenly appreciative of what this
| means as Gov. Bullock himself. 1t was
but little more than a quarter Of a CEN
fury ago that this saTe governor witnessed
the negroes incontinently turned out of the
legislature. and he had to call on the strong
arm of the United States government,
through it's military, to put them back in
power. Perhaps they deserved this treat
Inent. II was the hour when the corrupt
politician of the race had the upper hand
and when the entire race had to answer for
his acts. 1t has been Gov. Bullock's theory
always that the recognition of the negro in
his public character, the giving to him Of
the place which is his in this respect means
IN no way his recognition as a social equal
The two races, in his opinion can never
mix, but he has belief in the negro and his
development on the lines suggested by Prof
Washington.
The Negro Department at the EXPOSE
ton.
The prominence of this speaker and the
enthusiasm of his reception lends interest
to the negro building. Another young
negro who has worked on the same lines
has charge of this exhibit as commits
sioner. and while his work is not yet COM
pleted there is enough there to show that
success has crowned his efforts The prac-
teal accomplishment of the negro is
shown here. The building itself is not pre-
tentious. bu. it is massive in it's plainness
and its decorations are appropriate. Over
the main entrance are two heads SYM
bolical in a sense of the changed state of
affairs-one the head of slave, the other
the head of a man whose relations to his
race was that of statesman, Frederick
Douglass Inside lot of active young
people may be seen perfecting the install
lation of their exhibits. The schools are
strongly represented. eSpecially those