The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-20
Preaching and Proc,ic,nr

The Boston people for once have been
required to look into the mirror and see
themselves as they are. They are never
tired Of railing at the south for drawing
line in social matters against the col
ored people. To hear them talk. one
would suppose that they would like moth
ing better than an opportunity to show
that the color of mans skin makes no
difference to them.
Recently they had an opportunity TO
show what the average Boston sentiment
is in respect to black people There was
a great gathering of white and black peo-
pie from all parts of the country in Bos.
ton, the occasion being a conference of
religious bodies. A black bishop, named
Arnett, was one of the delegates to this
conference. He tried to obtain accom-
odations at some of Boston's leading ho-
tells. and failed. He discovered that for
once all the hotels were crowded-at least
so the landlords informed him.
. OF course the story of the refusal of the
hotels to accommodate the bishop got
abroad, and Boston people were red hot
with indignation. They scored the hotels
and so did some of the newspapers. They
even talked of boycotting the hotels. In
the meantime, however none of the in
dignant citizens offered to furnish the
bishop with bed and board in their own
homes. They were not making a business
of entertaining people. OF course not.
Last Sunday Dr. George Perrin, pastor
of the Every Day church. preached a ser
mon on THE Color Line in Boston," and
Boston people were given a chance to see
themselves as others see them. The doc
tor began his sermon by rehearsing the
story Of Bishop Arnett, and remarked
that it was rather hopeful sign that
the Arnett incident had created SO much
discussion. Continuing. he said:
What shall we say of these hotel keen
ers ana their refusal to admit the bishop
as guest! we may perhaps call il q bit
or SnObbery and declare that II saVors Of
an ariStocracy which has no place in the
north, but shall we say that these hotels
stand out as exceptions ana subject them
to the pillory? TO my mind it was a very
poor thlng TO do, ana yet these hotel
Keepers ought not to be pilloried because
theS are just ike the rest OF us, and reDra-
sent the sentiment of the community. You
and l would have done as they did; that is
the average man among US would have
acted so, for that is Just what is being
done in Boston every day.
The doctor then illustrated his proposi-
ton, pictur1ng the reception thai would
pe accorded a respectable cOlored man
should he endeaVor to rent Common
wealth avenue mansion. He could NOT
rent it,, said he, land if he did his neigh
DORIS would set up such a howl that he
WOf1ln 0DIlgaA
lie told story from his own experiences
where colored man was refused the Driv.
llege of renting a house in the West
End. Were the hotel keepers any worse
than this MANI he asked Il am afraid
l would have done as he did, and vet in
was mean, pusillanimous and undemocrat-
volts against this.
1T is all very well for us up here in
the north, far away from the large cen
ters Of colored population, to talk about
the free ballot, etc. l wonder what we
would have done had we been in the
south2'
Turning his attention once more to
the hotel keepers he said They are
not afraid of colored men Their housas
are full of colored men, who not only
wait on tables, but also prepare the
food. They don't care whether a colored
man sleeps in bed which is afterward
TO be occupied by a white man. The iron
bic is with the people who live in and
about Boston. and who patronize the no
We are snobbsh We are at heart
aristocrats, and not democrats. These
men are simply mirrors held up to re-
fleet the sentiment of the average Bos-
tonian.'
The Boston people, in fact, the great
majority of the people of the north. tudg-
ing from what appears in the northern
papeps-insist that the southern white peo-
pie shall accord TO the blacks privileges
which they themselves would not think
Of granting them. What DR.. Perrin said
is literally true. There is more prejudice
against the blacks in the north than in
the south, though from the way the north
erners talk one would suppose they would
accord the blacks equality under any and
all circumstances. The truth is, they want
to force upon the south a condition Of
affairs, relative to the blacks, which they
themselves would not tolerate.