Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-12-11
DOES NOT TAKE CARE OF HIMSELF.
The Physical Degeneracy of the
American Negro.

A"cHACan NC8HVs
From the Medical Record.
The race problem in the south seems des-
tined to be settled according to natural
laws Unless something is done. and done
soon. to save the negro from the results
Of h4s' own vices and lnglect of elementary
hygienic laws. The testimony of those
who have studied this subject is all but
unanimous, and it has received additional
confirmation through the Investigations Of
DIR. r. II. Johnson of Brunswick. Ca, him
self a colored physician. The figures which
he has gathered from study of the vital
statistics of nearly three hundred towns in
the southern states. show that the death
rate of negroes is double that of whites
in the same Communities, and not only this,
but the birth rate Is also smaller than
among the colored than among the
white population. =: Furthermore, the day
of the stalwart negro Is passing,
il not already goHe-~and the members of
the younger generation of the race make a
poor showing as regards their size and
physical constitution, when compared with
their erandfathers and grandmothers.
DIR. Johnson attributes this degeneracy of
his raee-righrly,, we believe-to the care
lessness. want Of forethought and dissipa-
large portion of the colored population in
the south cince the civil war. In ante
bellum days." says Dr. Johnson, 1.-The ne
and many great medical writers and teach
ers boast of never having seen such among
the spegrpes. Enforced temperate living
and sanitary precautions made the black
man physical giant, but the giants are
disappearing, and In their places is COM
Ing on a race of smaller stature and de-
creased vitality"
In the days Of sIaverSn the colored man
was property and was looked after with
all the care which nnehsare accustomed to
give to the safe keeping of their possess
sions.% Their health was Carefully attended
to by the plantation physician they were
decently housed. we'll fed forced to live
season. But the fortunes of war, while
giving them hberty, gave them also Ii
cense to indulge in all the enervating and
physically degrading vices of the higher
race at a time when they had not learned
the necessity of self -restSaint and of re-
gard for the laws Of health.
That this-b the true reason of the COL
ored mans physical deterioration is further
shown by what Surgeon General Sternberg
has to say, in his recently issued annual
report concerning the health of the col
ored soldiers. Great improvement" he
says, has taken place in the past few
years in the sanitary condition of the COL
ored troops. The white troops have partfc-
ipated In the Improvement, although their
rates have not fallen 50 rapidly as those
OF the colored men. During the past year
the total hospital admission rate for all
causes among the colored troops was
sbs.ss per 1000 of strength, as compared
with 1.l32-49s among the whites and as
compared with 915.SS among themselves in
the previous year, and with 1,36S.64, their
own annual average for the previous dec
ade, the annual average of the white troops
having been 1,2S4-95. The non-efficiency
from all causes among the colored troops