Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1897-06-25
The Morals Of the American
Negro as | See Thorn.

/ + . X Il i L 8
Negro as | See Them.
There are much both said and
written about this type Of the
American people. Some say that
the negro is worse morally than
any other people, and others say
they are not. Thus the negro
comes in for his share OF this sort
Of notoriety, There are several
! definitions however, for this trlte
term. "morals." But the one for
which / lave preference and the
one in the light Of which | pur-
pose to view my subject is "a
course pursued by a moral being
with reference to right or wrong"
The word morals also presupposes
a criterion by which moral con-
duct is to be defined; and tor this
standard the most, if not all men
look to their religion to furnish,
for they have found that they first
find deity in their religions; that
there they learn the most about
him and the most about them
selves. 1t is Il significant fac
that mems moral standards uni
ties or diftcrentials according to
their religious knowledge of God
It is indeed to this knowledge
that each and every system in
universal moral philosophy and
theology owes their origin. The
Monotheistic Jews, as we might
saw, taken for the rule Of this life
and conduct the standard which
God fixed and reviIed to them
through the prophets and the
"Mono. Trinslc" christian take for
theirs the standard which God
has fixed and revealed to man
through His son Jesus Christ.
It is with reference to the latter
that | shall consider the American
Negroes moral conduct. 1t is a
pleasing fact that this highest
moral mark that God has set tor
man in Jesus Christ his dear son
and the importation Of this divine
nature to man which makes it pos
sible for him to reach this mark IS
ever pervading human life, and
changing men from the likeness OF
sin to that OF the righteousness OF
thes on ofGod. God has express
ably commanded through his son
that every sane human being that
has reached the years of accounta-
bility should in a specific manner
demean himself with reference to
three objects, namely God,
self and fcllowman.'' 10 this the
whole life-task of the individual
will accommodate itself. Under
the first object comes his Theistic;
the second his individual, and the
third his Social duty. The CONS
pleting OF all which, thank God, is
made sure by the soul being graft
ed into Christ, the true vine, and
being nourished by God, the
husbandman.
The Negroes present attitude
toward God as l see it: Never
before in his history has the Amer
lean Negro made so deep and
systematic study Of God as he is
now doing. This is the very rea-
son of his being in possession OF a
crcditable and yet increasing
knowledge Of the divine criterion
for human conduct, and also the
reason that he is not so sponta-
neous in his praises to God; not
that he loves God less than he did
in the past, but that by studing
God he has found that before he
shouts he must have won a vlc>
tory over the flesh, the world and
the devil. He is getting more
light and is walking in some por>
ton of it all and in which he is
obeylng God more, his faith
though small. Yet the Negro is
trusting in God, this very moment
to bring to him some good condi-
tons that seems to be as far away
now as the East from the West.
For instance, his condition in this
country, which is by no means
pleasant to him, but as far as his
arm of flesh is concerned in chang
ing it the Negro is almost passive,
not because he is afraid of men or
devils. but it is: first, because he