Richmond planet., 1896-09-19
THE NEGRO
IN HISTORY.
HIS RACE THE OLDEST
OF WHICH WE HAVE
KNOWLEDGE.
He 1t Was Who Evolved
THE SPLENDID CIVILIZATION OF
EGYPT AND WHOSE BLOOD
Produced the Artists and Poets of Greece.

The place that the Negro has filed
in the worlds civilization is a subject
that is very entertainingly discussed
In the Arena by Prof. Willis Boughton,
OF OHIO State University. And an i'm
portRnt part he filled according to
Prof BoughtoE. All history, he says, is
full of traces of the black race. lt is
now usually recognized as the oldest
race of which we have any knowledge.
The wanderings OF these people since
prehistoric history began have not been
confined to the African continent. In
PAleohthic times the black man roam
ed at will over all the fairer portions
of the old world. Europe as we'll as
Asia and Africa acknowledged his sway
No white man had as yet appeared to
dispute his authority in the vine-clad
valleys of France or Germany or upon
the classic hills of Greece or Rome.
The black man preceded all others
and carried Paleolithic culture TO it's
very height. But the history of all
lands has been only a record of sue
ceeding races Old races have often
been supplanted by those of inferior
culture but of superior energy. More
often, however, by fusion of different
racial types and by the mingling of
various tribes and people, have been
evolved new races superior to any of
the original types.
CIVILIZATIONS PIONEERS.
The blacks were a fundamental eIe
ment in the origin not only of the
primitive races of southern Europe,
but of the civilized races of antiquity
as we'll. History may be said To begin
in ancient Egypt. and recede into the
past just as far as records and inscrip-
tions lend us light still in the Nile
valley we find a civilization that has
drawn from all succeeding ages ex-
pressiOns of wonder and admiration
This first example of a civilization was
an isolated one; it had evolved right
there in that wondrously happy re-
gion.
Surely the ancient Egyptians were a
remarkable people but who were they
The ruling tribes are called Hamites-
the "sunburnt" family according TO
DIR. Winchell; ; Of Negritic origin, says
Canon Rawlinson. But back of these
ruling Hamites were a LIGHTED heart
ed" people-"gay," "good-natured .
pleasant" "sportive,' witty,
''droll !" 'amOrOus''-such are the de.
scriptive terms used in telling the
story of those primitive tribes who
DIR. Taylor says, lived peaceably il
those regions for 1000 years before
gestive as they may seem, such terms
are truly descriptive of the inhabi
tants whom we would expect to find il
the Nile valley in ancient times. They
were probably as purely Negritic M
are the great mass of our own Afro
Americans.
HOPE FOR THE AMERICAN NEGRO.
If the colored Egyptian, beginning
at the zero point of culture, could in
dependent evolve civilization. hav
ing had no model, what can we no
hope for the American. Negro, who ha
for model the highest civilization
that the world has ever seen and VIII,
has already proved himself such al
apt scholar Let no one, then, visi
Egypt and view her pyramids, ODE
lisks, her temples, her tombs, he
sphinx, and still claim that the black
have no place in history. They furn
ish almost the isolated examples of
civilization developed without a mod
eli, even though other racial factor
may have entered into that civiliza
tion.
When the Hamites and thei
kindred were at the hight of thei
power, their influence extended to ia
greater limits than is ordinarily SUI
--- PoSSeA. 4ucy ffceSc0 1OWdIU lilc Col
GaAof Europe; they entered an
took possession of the land.
BLACK BLOOD IN GREEK VEINS.
The Hellenes were the Aryans frs
to be brought into contact with thes
sunburnt Hamites, who, let it be rt
membered, though classed as white
were probably as strongly Negritic
are the Afro-Americans. These He
lenes were savages or barbarian
But Aryan strength and energy wei
thus brought into contact with Han
itic culture. Then occurred tn
great struggle of centuries for soci
equality between the blond AIyan ar
the Pelasgian, the dark child of Il
soil Greece thus had her race soci
question to settle, and il was settle
by fusion. Had it not been for tn
mixture of ark blood in the Gree
composition, that race of poets, ar
lists and phil osOphers would new
have existed.
THE NEGRO IN EUROPE.
"The Iberians," says DIR. Winchel
"entered by the Pillars of Hercule
They came from northern Africa at
time when the Hamitic Berbers wei
gaining possession. They overran tf
Spanish peninsula, founded elite