Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-05-04
COEORED ARTlSANSHIP
Tho Question Of Establishing q Manual
Training School
Various Contributions to- the Discus
pabilities OF .CoIored Youth.
To the Editor of The Evening Star:

To the Editor Of The Evening Star:
I have read with great interest the edi-
| torials and contributed articles touching
upon Industrial education which have ap-
peared recently in The Star. 1 heartily
agree with those who desire an extension
OF the industrial departments of the public
schools. But by no means can 1 subscribe
TO the arguments advanced for that end, or
to the promises of untold blessings which
Will arise therefrom for the colored youth.
In the first place the Member of ST.
aff1rms that IF we had industrial schools
these (colored) pupils could, on leaving
scnooi, get employment at living wages, for
they would be able to do thorough, intelli-
gent work. This was the argument adj
Fanced several years ago, when we dream
ed OF blissful results from a Colored Bust
less High School. We soon learned. how
ever, that diplomas Of proficiency in the
oretlcal work do not make business men.
ihere is something else needed-opportuni-
~. business opportunity.
Saturday The Star said editorially: THAT
the opportunity to acquire this more prac-
tlcal education Is appreciated can be proven
ccFclus1vely by the rapid growth of our
Business High School, an institution which
Is supplying the mercantile establishments
OF tnls city and other cities with thorough
ly qualified employees" This statement be-
| comes true only when you insert white"
after highly qualified"
state of affairs only a little less general
VIII OBTAIN When we have manual train
ing school, filied-alas, as DR.. Shadd too
t[Iy says-With ninety per cent of our
coloIeo youth. Under the existing social
Waite boy will get the steady employment
me colored boy the small jobs, not being
anoWed even to drive a nail into the school
house where his sister is to study The in
uuce1neht OF easily finding remuneratlve
employment from manufacturers, offered
ny ne ntar TO the graduates of the coming
~ training school applies, of course,
~ "mte graduates. 1t does well in speak
ing OF the advantages for US to limit its en-
coGragement to the girls Gin the streets and
scbooi VINO going out from the new
seamStreSSeS or milliners
shh means let us have an industrial
scnooi, and let The Star continue to cham
Ploh the good cause. But let us not be
uIeeiteo ny specious arguments. Let us
clearly understand that in the world of
auairs &bll1ty does not always find recog-
hltlGn, else some of our graduates would be
working today in the stores and offices of
lhls city, to which we give such large pa
tronaSe, and not, as 'Memberof Class of
81 complains, be doing inferior work as
Guhesucs and apprenticed seamstresses."
me diinculty is not to be found SO much
II at All, IN the lack of ability, as In an in
dustr1al ostracism And no amount of
mechanical training under the present con-
oltlons Will materially lessen the vast
army or unemployed and disconnected
young colored folks" Some good results
Will come from the industrial school: but
greater blessings would result If in some
way Inc Star could arouse public senti-
ment In favor of giving our boys and girls
a chance.
l wish to speak, in the second place,
word concerning our literary education
We frequently hear the cry "change the
course in the Colored High School to meet
our needs In the world of thought and
endeavor, can our boys get on with less
training than their fairer brothers? The
WHITE boy begins his school life with inher-
tied aptttudes, and daily comes in contact at
nome, at church, at lecture hall with those
who uplift him intellectually. If a high
school course makes of such a boy a better
man as we'll as better. bread winner why
will 1t not do the same for our boys who
without inherited advantages find in most
cases their only intellectual atmosphere in
the school room?
The Star feels that there is waste of
energy and money in the conduct of the
public schools for Golored children" and
That In the high school they have learned
those things which cannot except very
vaguely and indirectly be of any use to
them along tho lines of endeavor which
must be theirs through life" 1 cannot see
by what course of reasoning The Star ar
rives at the conclusion that cur lines of
erdeavor are to be those along which high
school education is of questionable utility.
That no good comes from educating the
negro has been for centuries the dictum of
the favored race, which refuses to give him
a chance.
That too, is a strange argument of
Member of the Glass of ST." who implies
that because most of our boys and girls are
to cook or sew, barber watt for this
reason they should receive little schooling:
in other words. because they may not do
professional work, they are to go about the
world mentally blind, unable to appreciate
the best things which God has given for
the enjoyment of the intelligent only,
In our high school we are correcting false
ideas grasped by the pupils on the outside:
that the race is destined to be hewers of
wood and drawers of water: that nothing
is to be labored for except what can be
turned into something to eat, drink or
handle. Our aim is to teach them that they
are not to study Latin and mathematics
for accomplishments any more than the
athlete employs dumb bells and Indian clubs
for ornaments. These are to be for them
means for intellectual development mental
poise, which is to serve them in every walk
of life, pointing out to them their duties
rights and privileges.
To my imperfect vision, it seems clear
enough that the uplifting of this race, as
of all other races, is to be from above-not
from below. The intelligent must lead
Out of those trained in our grammar and
high schools are to come the class who are
to establish pure, intellectual homes and
to do what no merely industrial class, how
ever skillful, can do--think its way to sue
cess. Let us have manual training school.
But long live the high school! Let us bear
in mind and apply to ourselves what Joseph
MaZZin said fifty years ago to the working
class Of his citizens: Your liberty, your
rights, your emancipation from every in
justice in your social position, the task each
of you is bound to fulfill on earth-all de-
pend upon the degree of education you are
able to attain
WALT B. HAYSON,
Colored High School.
Observation-Disclosures View