The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-02-01
THE RACE QUESTION
A viewed by n Post-Slavery Negro OF
Educssion-OIe who Has Given the Mat.
ter Much Though and Gives the Whine
People The Bsa.fit Of Has Honest Con.
vlctiOus
Faison, y. C. January IS.

Faison. n. C. January IS.
Editor Messenger:
The conclusion you reached in your
editorial today entitled, 'TheBest Way
Our; OF a Difficulty" wer<. no doubt,
the result Of political necepi ty. 1T Is
a bad wind which does "a one good"
and SO it has been with all the great
events of the worlds history While
Garrison and his school of men ex-
haus;ed their ~iavective against h
slave system. and Lincoln declared
that the Union could not stand half
slave and half free" yet the careful
student can see that the slave procla-
nation was more the result OF military
necessity and fear OF the competition
OF the products of slave labor and
northern free labor h from any IN
born love of the negro. The negro was
benefited.
AS to the negro since the war. l VIII
say that / have been a careful d
of his actions. / have had eNc~ileflt
opppT iui2lltS VI SNAAs A"c
which actuated them in voting as they
have. / was born since the war and
was reared with all possible prejudice
against democrats as democrats hut
not as men. 1t was a range blending
Of ideas. The school in which every ne
gro born since the war was taught.
had for its cardinal principles the ar
gument that the mocr was the
natural enemy of the egro that po-
iftically the republican party was ITS
only friend; they taught that demo-
Gratis only awaited a favorable oppor-
funity TO re-enslave them. White peo-
pie will scarcely believe me when L
say that as late as 1884. when Mr..
Cleveland was first elected, that in ev-
cry n~eighborhood the talk was rife
about what was to be done when the
white folks came for their old v
No white person was ever allowed to
know OF these proceedings. neverthe-
less. it was absolutely true. The writer
was then IS and well his
fruitless efforts to convince the older
heads OF their nonsensial talk. They
would invariably tell me that / was
young and did not know whereof L
spoke. Nothing but time convinced
UCI lid DllC l1NAlob va "a
president did not mean slavery. 1
speak of the older peopl-the voters
The young ones Of my age knew moth
ing about slavery and paid very little
attention to the talk except out OF mere
curiosity and to boast of what they
would do in case the drop did fall.
You ask what they thought OF the
Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth
amendments to the constitution. Wen.
at the time all knew that they were
free, but as to what processes
ii about, / am willing 10 wager dough-
nuts to Jews harps that there was not
one in a Thousand that could tell you
anything about those amendments.
few had ever heard of them, and still
fewer could tell th1ir fore and the al
most imp~ossFbiiity Of their eve being
repealed. They did not know that such
a question was not an issue in the
campaign. Such was the density of ig-
norance nineteen years after the war.
White republicans would say stick to
the party that freed you and kept you
free-and that was argument enough.
Moreover, on account of the deep
prejudice against the negro it was
hard to get juries to render just YER
diets when a white man and a negro
were involved. This cause induced the
negro to almost lose respect for courts.
and to have 1T fixed in their bones that
it was useless to go TO law except some
big white man would speak UP for them
Add to these things the action OF South
Carolina and Mississippi, and the con-
tinuous wall of the white press that
this is a white mans country. and the
white man must rule-a thing which
every negro baby knew before he or
she was born. and you have some OF
the reasons why the negro has always
voted for the republican ticket.
Now, sir, to me, one of the new ne
groes, the question is vastly different.
1t is why should I vote to keep a gang
Of shameful white carpet-baggers,
thugs-and God knows what-au in
office? / know as we'll, sir, as any
man in the state that the democrats
can make no possible voting test to
get me that would not at the same
swOop get half the democrats. 1
know that with all their weakness the
state was managed better under them
h a under the present gang with Rus
sell at the head. I know that under
them the negro had control Of his pub
lie schools, and no pretty negro girl
had to go to a white man to get a
school. i know that under them the
negro made just as much ~ as
he mak now. We had more offices.
Why. then, shall I vote that ticket?
To answer this. I VIII say that the
democratic speakers n papers had
control so long tin they were drunk
with power. and boastful tina Ivy no
combination could their cftadels be
AIKEN We wanted to peat you at
first out OF mere curiosity. We were
told 50 much about your election frauds
and how nice 1t would be to be allowed
to vote for magistrates and county
government and all it's paraphernalia
till we had an urthfnking curiosity To
see It, Now we have had 1t. Do YOU
think we see the difference? 1t My
adds other burdens with no adequate.
compensation.
Your leaders are wise men, many Of
them; but let me make a suggestion.
L know / represent the sentiment Or
every Intelligent negro born since ttre
war-there are some older ones THAT
are yet afraid. But sir: If you viii
ETDn falkinu aH.nnyf Nil Iusrx ..<1ftu