Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-02-07
/The Negro North and south.
Boston Herald.)

The Woman's Club. OF Chicago. has
finally admitted to membership negress
by the name of Fanny Berrier Williams.
The question of her admission has been
a burning one before the club for three
or four years. and has aroused a great
deal Of feeling, not only within its ranks
but elsewhere, for the Chicago Woman
Club being in fraternal relation or
fraternal Is the right worO with other
similar clubs throughout the country Its
action affects the others as well. a
majority of whom do not believe in
social equality with negroes, and see in
1t danger to the Anglo-Saxon race.
The struggle over Fanny Williams has
been prolonged and severe. The general
public is of course In ignorance of what
occurred during the several sessions or
the club committee. as these were held
within doors and were secret. but from
such few facts as leaked out there can
be no doubt that the fight became very
bitter ard savage. Two years ago the
application OF Fanny Williams for mem
bership I'm the club was rejected and
although no reasons were given, II was
well understood that II was because Of
her color. After waiting some time she
again presented her application for men,
bership, on the ground that she repre-
scented a principle. the equality OF the
races, and was admitted TO the club by
a slim majority OF one.
IL is doubtful IL this could be done any
where in the country except in Chicago,
but then Chicago is eccentric, and likes
TO be outre and different from the rest
Of the country. Chicago. however is not
unanimous on this point. Fanny VIII
liams required but one more blackball
To be shut out Of the club. and the Chi
In,
which she was admitted has done the
negro more harm than good, and says:
What are the uses. the benehcent re-
suits. the lesson OF this race war and the
outcome remain to be seen. II is doubt
full whether the club has gained and
whether the race represented by Mrs.
Williams has gained by the struggle aud
by her victory. The causes Of the conflict
VIII continue to rankle. Equality and
peace between the races must be of slow
and peaceful growth and of gradual ac-
complishment. A forced issue, even If a
temporary victory is procured by pres
sure or superior numbers. often is follow
ed by reaction which delays a final tri-
Umph from natural causes OF growth and
progress"
These efforts TO force the negro into
places in which he is not wanted has only
nAihiAAdNtb tht itflbASH dEblHNl Dlli II ~
better to recognize this sentiment to see
that ii is innate and natural to the white
race, particularly TO the Anglo-Saxon,
and that 10 il we owe the preservation
OF the race and its civllizati ton.
The truth is that the race sentiment
against social equality with the negroes
Is naturally as great in the North as i'm
the South. and displays like that made
at Chicago are but hypocrisy. The Wash
ington Post, which is on the dividing line
between the two sections. and where the
negro Is given greater latitude and indie
pendence than anywhere else in the coun-
try. fully appreciates the real situation
when IL says OF the Hartford incident:
in every part Of the country we find
this same spirit of criticism toward the
South and the same aversion to the negro.
whenever the question becomes personal.
1t Is no new thing. II IL as old as our
civilization. There is absolutely nothing
In it to occasion surprise or to provoke
comment Professor Frissell could not
take his five colored youths to New York,
Philadelphia. Boston, Chicago, or Cincin-
natl. and obtain first-class accommodation
for them in hotels any more than he could
in Richmond, Baltimore, Charleston, or
New Orleans. Everybody knows il. Pro-
lessor Frissell might have known it if he
had not kept his head I'm the clouds. The
young colored men in question should
have known it. and they ought TO have
had more self-respect than to court the
humiliation to which they were subjected.
THE truth is that the whole country is
of one mind on this point The only diff
ference is that the South is candid enough
to profess it's feelings and convictions.
while the North plays the coward and the
hypocrite."
1t would be better for the negro and
the entire country II this fact were re-
cognized and the unwise and injurious
movement TO force the negro where he
Is not wanted were abandoned by the
fanatics who are engineering IL.