Evening star., 1898-11-21
AN UNDEVELOPED RACI
Prof Kelly Miller Again Elucidates His
Theories as to the Colored Race
Why the Negro Should Adopt the
SeIf-EGacement Plan for
His own Good.
To the Editor Of The Evening Star:

To the Editor Of The Evening Star:
| My contribution to The Star of November
| IA seems to have evoked considerable dis
! cussion among those who are interested IN
| the negro problem. The published replies,
| as we'll as the comments which have come
to me personally, as far as they have been
| unfavorable to my position. have abounded
| in more less vehement reiteration Of
familiar political formulas, but are char
acterized by noticeable absence of definite
| propositions.
! l have no desire to continue the contro-
/ versy beyond the point where it may help
| to reveal the true nature of the situation
| and to incucate a wise policy of practical
| procedure. 1t is always an unpleasant
| task to discuss the deficiencies of a people
| and especially SO if one points out the
| shortcomings and limitations of ones own
| race. The wise and cautious will urge de-
| sistance on the ground of prudence, while
| those of haif-tutored minds and unlicensed
| temper will become personal and abusive.
The general tenor of criticism which has
| come to my ears has been to the effect
| that, while what you say is true, it Is
! neither necessary nor wise that the truth
! be told at this time ! remember distinct
ly that when. as boy, l noticed the sun
| light streaming through the windows and
| observed myriads of particles of dust float
! ing hther and thither in the path of the
| sunbeam, l, in childish ignorance and IN
| llOCtnSe. attributed cduSdl Qudllly 10 lUt
! revealing agent, and concluded that the
| same rays filled the room with dust that
| flooded it with light. My counselors and
| advisers seem to me to commit in their
| maturity the folly of my youth. 1t is not
| the statement of the truth, but the exist
| ence of the fact. that should be deplored.
| The short-sighted policy of concealment re-
| minds one of the ostrich, which, when hard
pressed, hides his head under the shadow
| of his wings, with the vain hope of eluding
| the vengeance of the pursuer; but the fool
| sh bird only makes of himself the more
| certain target and in wise escapes the
wrath to come. Others, again, assume
defiant attitude toward the facts and will
not admit them, though they do appear as
high as great Olympus. So the poor In
| dian, standing in the gathering shadows OF
| the valley of death, faces his doom with
utter unconcern as to his final destiny The
red mans stolid Indifference Is not more
marvellous than the negro's defiant ign9r-
ance. And ye shall know the truth and
the truth shall make you free has wide
application to the affairs of this world, as
well as to the kingdom of grace A clear
perception of the facts of the situation Is
absolutely necessary before any helpful
remedy can be applied. The goal toward
which all noble strivings are directed is
represented by truth, knowledge. freedom.
SociOlogists are today ranSacking all de-
partments of life and every phase of So
ciety in search of definite information.
They are counting, Weighing, sitting, an
alyZing, the simple facts Of observation, as
They believe that a knowledge of the truth
is necessary to free society from the mani
fold evils which infest it, And so with the
negro. If he would overcome the many
barriers and hindrances which embarrasS
his progress, he must do so through a saw
ing knowledge of the truth.
The Fact. of the Case.
The facts of the case are as plain as any
sociological data can possibly be. The
gro was brought to this country from
savage, or, at best, a barbarous, state of
society He has had about two and a half
centuries of the discipline Of slavery and
thirty years of the semblance of freedom.
TO suppose that this race received the price
less boon OF civilization through the dis
ciplipe of slavery is to pay to the benefi-
cent influence of that institution the high
est compliment which it has yet received.
The negro has accomplished wonderful
things during the thirty years of freedom,
with its imperfect privileges. but he has
only started on the journey of civilization;
the long and weary path of progress still
lies before him.
AS the result of a great social and politi-
cal upheaval the negro was clothed with
the right of the elective franchise. This
was the most stupendous experiment that
a civilized government ever undertook That
the beneticent intendment of this measure
was doomed to partial failure might have
been clearly seen from a priori principles.
1T Is only the most advanced section of the
human race that is capable of Self-govern-
ment. according to the accepted significance
of that term. The vast hordes of the Euro
pean population are not even now deemed
fit for this privilege. Witness the gigantic
struggle which Ireland is waging for the
priceless boon of self government and the
hXed determination on the part of the dom
inant Englishman to withhold it. on the
ground that the Hibernian is not prepared to
exercise so high a function with safety to
himself or to the British empire. The revolu-
t1ons and counter revolutions which are al
a rirtr Gnr,rh
republics show plainly that the form of
government is not best suited to the nature
of the population. Is the negro superior to
these races of Caucasian blood with CEN
| turtles of freedom behind them? The great
evil of an ignorant suffrage Is that it makes
possible the aScendency of rascality. The
shrewd and INSCRIPTIONS demagogue can
always control an ignorant constituency by
vile and dfSreputable methods. The uure-
stricted exercise of suffrage by the popula-
tions of Hawaii the Philippine Islands, In
probably involve those localities In ruin
within a decade. Is it not therefore, for
the benefit of all these peoples to yield
gracefully to self-effacement as controIJing
political factors? The southern negroes
who went to Liberia during the early years
of this century found themselves surround
ed by several millions of their ancestral
savages. Had they granted the unrestrict-
ed exercise of suffrage the black repubIic
would have died in its birth throes. Can
the whites do in America what the blacks
themselves cannot do in Africa?
In the second place, the attempt on the
part of the negro to exercise the unre-
stricted right of suffrage especially Ia
those communities where he resides In nrn
ponderant numbers, engenders opnos;tion
which he Is in no wise able 10 Withstand
Had the negroes of Wilmington persisted
in the exercise of their abstract right the
death list of that municipality alone would
In all probability have exceeded the total
casualties of the recent Spanish war. The
same thing might happen at twenty differ
ent points of the south
1t Is well enough for those aeitators who
thunder from the north, and who like Jobs
war horse, sniff the battle from afar off 70
urge aggressive action But it is notice
able that their advice is always given at
safe distance from the firing line. We are
reminded of the lines which occur in Mac
Cauley's poem on Horatius:
But those behind cried Torwardr
And those in front cried, Back ="
To take up arms under such conditions as
at present prevail would be simply to COM
nit suicide, and to die as the fool dieth
Suffrage Not an InaIienabIe Right.
If any man between the two oceans is so
rash as to deny the essential truth of the
foregoing statements let him stand up and
be photographed.