The age-herald., 1897-11-23
THE HEGRO'S ADVANCEMENT Has Improved Very Much h.
 tellectualIy and Morally. HE SHOULD NOT BE JUDGED By the Street LOafers to be Seen Every Day.
 Immoral Ministers Thing of the
 Past--Education Sought
HE SHOULD NOT BE JUDGED
TusIxeoea Ala

I say this 1t must be borne in mind that progress is relative. The depths from which they have come, as well as the
 heights to which they ought to go should be kept in mind. Some get an unfa- vorable impression of the race, because 1 they judge the negro race too often by the worst element rather than the best. | This Is not fair. The civilization of Boston is judged by it's Edward Everett 1 Hale rather than by its John L. Sullivan, l that of England by it's Gladstone, rather than by the fellow in the gutter. Then, | unfortunately, few white people see the negro at his best. Tehy see most of the negroes who loaf on street corners or in l bar rooms or those who are in the courts. | Too few of our southern white people l take the trouble to see by an actual visit the progress that the negro is making in l his schools, churches and homes. The negro that steals a pig, or is sent to the chain gang for fighting, is usually | heard of the next day in the daily press, 1 but not always so with the negro who 1 buys farm or builds a new house. He who does not go beneath the surface may be likely to conclude that the race l is making little, if any progress. Just
 now the greatest progress that the negro | in Alabama had made during the last ten | years is not in visible or tangible form though that is great. He has perhaps | made most progress in unlearning some | things that he though he knew. He has learned that the highest positions
 must be reached by careful steps rather
 than by leaps and bounds. He has | learned that a house may look ever so attractive on the outside, but unless the foundation is sure it will fall.
 Naturally, after the war the negro, being led in too many cases by d5ma-
 gogues and intoxicated by his new found freedom, made politics the goal of his
 ambition, For while most everything
 else was lost sight of. The negro has
 learned, in a large measure, that this
 was beginning at the top instead of the
 bottom. He is learning that in the long
 run, intelligence. property, and cha1ac-
 ter control whether the parties concerned
 be black or white. They are learning
 that in the present condition of the race
 that education and property are worth
 more to the masses than the mere prom ise of political office
 The negro in Alabama has improved his educational conditions within the
 last ten years. While for various req oOi1op tuc diHOuHl QI support gwen to the colored public schools, especially in the country districts, has been decreased,
 an examination will show that the negro In Alabama is paying more today di- rectiy out of his own pocket for the edu- cation of his children than he has ever done. While in most cases outside of the larger cities and towns the public school money is not enough to keep the school open longer than three or four
 months. notwithstanding this the public school term is being supplemented in larger measure than heretofore. In this way two and even four months in many places are added to the public school term. The negro in Alabama is build ing more school houses than ever be- | lore. He is demanding that the teach | CTS Tn his schools be better prepared | mentally and morally. When there is
 worthless teacher it is not always the l negro's fault. The examining boards
 in Alabama are too lenient In most of
 the counties any black man who can read and write little and presents him.
 self before the board with dollar gets | a teachers license. This should not
 be so it brings disgrace upon the whole public school system of Alabama.
 The negro has made progress in his moral and religious life This is most | apparent in the fact that in every part
 of Alabama a line is being drawn be- | tween the moral and the immoral In some places this line Is more sharply drawn than in others, but as race the | lesson is being learned and practiced
 that those who live immoral lives must | be made to feel the weight of public con- | demnation. Churches that a few years | ago would keep an immoral minister will
 not today tolerate such minister's Tn | fact I know one church that has dis | missed four ministers within three years | for immortality.
 l When it comes to the negro's material
 or industrial improvement the visible | evidences may not be so many as we would like to see. Perhaps the best
 evidence of growth along this line is 1 found in "a widespread determination l on the part of the people to secure land | and homes.
 l The greatest improvement has been | made in the negro'S conception of what l an education is meant to accomplish. Immediately after freedom came, school | houses were filled by all classes and
 ages with the idea largely that educa-
 tion meant freedom from labor and all the ordinary responsibilities of life.
 Many thought merely to get something | in the head in the way of book learnin g | meant getting a living in some mex plainable way. Naturally most who re-
 ceiyed education in the early days of freedom were preachers and teachers | as there was a great demand for them. | From this many got the idea that every educated colored man must teach or
 preach or do nothing. This is all chang ing and our people are learning that in addition to ministers. teachers and other professional men, we must have | educated colored men who are farmers, | truck giardners. dairymen, brick mak-
 CTS, builders and contractors, printers, trained nurses, dressmakers, etc. They | are learning that there must be a more vital and practical connection between the negro's educated brain and his op- portunity of earning his daily living. The Folder people have learned that if they want their sons to return to the farm af-
 ter they are educated they must be | taught to love farming, not educated
 away from the very industry that S5 per
 cent. of our people depend upon for their daily living. They are learning that | a larger proportion of our young men
 want to be given g knowledge of practi- cal and scientific farming--that more
 brains and skill must be put into agri-
 culture. In a word, they are learning
 to see in labor dignity and beauty in-
 stead of regarding 1t as a curse. For
 proof of what I say, have only to say that few yearsago when I opened the | Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Insti-