The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-06-12
WOES OF AFRICAlS BLACKS.
RAoEDIsTINCTION STRoN9BR rHERB
THAN HERE. ~

NO NNHlNNuH q y Autbl ~ bNna
t~iona-Their Connsn nIEhts HEnorea.
1t is natural for Loople who have grievance,
to magnify them and often to imagine TINT thoy
are worse Off In their peculiar misfortunos than
any other people under the sun could, possibly
be. II Is a weakness Of the race that mAnlfests
itself elsewhere, md has done so In all ages Of
tho world and will do so to tho end of the chap
ter. II is Wall that IL Is so. perhaps, as dIsoon.
tent is the touchstone of human proGreBb, A
satisfied man or race Is doomed to moral rane
material and intellectual stagnatiOn or retro
gression from bad to worse. ,sta
Tho war with Spain has brought TO tho,surs
face In every State In tho Union, and An more
than n hundred Afro-American newspapers, In
a provoking and aggrRvnJing form. oil the
grievances which have fallen to the Int Of the
Afro-American citizen In his progress from n
chattel slave to tho full stature Of manhood
and citizenship from n: thing witnouts social.
political or material status to a man with equal
rights with all: others under the fundamental
law OF the land and with u social and material
status the nature o. which depends utmost GU
tircly upon himself, upon his industry and
thrift. The fact that in some Staten of. the
Union lynch law and separate car laws and re-
s%trictions upon suffrage prevail. and are really
grievous and burdensome, Is made the basis Of
columns upon columns Of opinion, RnRthemA
and what not, with a broad streak Of lamentap
bioh Llhi tuTOubu All U I, .. - T.h"ETrI
1t WAS n favorite habit of the late Frederick
Douglass. In delivering q public address. TO en-
claim. in a sort OF tragic attitude and voice.
that you cannot estimate tho heights to which
we have risen unless you measure the, depths
from which We woro draggcdl On, the depthsI
Oh. tho d~epths!' Tho Afro-Amsrican editorS,
who ought to remember this most reugiously.
are most prone to forget 1t, especially at this
time when the nation needs a united patriotism
In which .sifa' and asopAa'' hara M ,la,o .,,k.e
over. Whom the public danger has passed
away wo shall all havo plenty OF tune to present
our personal and individual grievances and to
sock to remedy them by tho creation OF .
healthy public opinion. ..'
The separate car laws Of tho Southern StateA.
as I have often said In THE Sun, are q positive
grievance. because of the sort of accommoda.
tion provided under them and the manner OF
their enforcement. But these separate car laws
I'm the Southern States and tho regulations made
and enforced under them arc not SO unjust and
oppressive as those enforced in South Africa
IN the Dutch Republic, or the English Cape
of Georgia, was quoted as TO the provision made
on the railroads of the Dutch or South African
Zontsnndu. printed in the KattiI language for
the most part, at King Williams Town, Cape
which he makes a startling revelation of the
treatment the natives receive from the British
what he says ought to be q source Of consoia.
ton to Afro Americans. whose disadvantaGosfh
MS TCSDeCl II growing leSb oppressive every
year, and are bound to disappear entirely in
the course Of time, as they have gradually done
past half century. Wo are rapidly living down
the obnoxious condition. In Africa 1t is jus0
beginning to he hitched upon the native popula-
ton by the European conquerors. and can only
be done away with by long years OF protest and
tsn SION and IG the @ GeRelo IN neS w of nat 81 re ee chHrSet sT.
both of which are in their infancy. The editor
S and 1% writes z0 RsfIr and 4 English HSifis i1 %ish saaa pI an:
enCy and purity. His paper is a four-paRe,
sight.coiumn sheet, with q two.pago. six;column
and, wider than that OF THE Sun. The paper
used is sky blue. From tyo to seven columns
remainder, including the advertisements lof.
which there are twenty-five columns in the is
suase, Of which the editor says: Tho thirSS
for Kafiir literature is beginning to show It.
sfi; w v ys""0IiiaS r = \ cans Native whifos zo1s:
the railroads q tho Cape Colony. the editor Of,
in the eoioF Of 2 your o"i'' Skin K no1 br ni1RR' Ti f2 D L G so%e
discomfort in this country. Asa rule. the third
expected to be. arc kept in most filthy condi.
ton, and II you happen to have a ticket that
You Invariably meet With hIniiiatinE rebuffs."'
This sounds identically like a paragraph out
we are glNd to acknowledge, however"
continues the editor OF Lmro, that during q re:
the case asa The oficiais. passenesfs. and re:
freshment conductors we're most courteous and
The worst sights we saw, however. were at
the Rosmead Junction and Tafalberg stations.
In the former place passenger naturally awsia
usually during the night. There 10 no waiting
room for natives. At Rosmead junction, We
weather, a dozen or more native passengers
who had paid or were willing to pay full value
for their seats. shivering in the cold and rain 40
midnight, some of them huddled together like
monkeys in a corner Of the open platform.
in Port Elizabeth. Peter Ravexse, fell q victim
to "a cold caught while waiting, at Rosme4d
a dying condition and s~uccunbed in three days
with a baby four months old In her arms and
three other little children. ranging from two 70
the open platform, as il OF similar IiieleSs mate
ria as the bags OF grain and cases OF goods sur:
rSa%a, on that hns%i night tPo rRRooGPe s 'F TO say they hey ' we're
shiverinE is rot descTlPttye enough; they were
ut seems SO unteeling to allow this, to COM
tn .bs S Snd we cd hope ~ of Il Ihe ns eS1Iy only sd to b 6sopg f6S
the matter to be attended to, and that right
early. There are other stations similarly Sita.,
ated. but these mentioned were the worst e1-'
amples Of suffering along that route"
There is nowhere on the main or branch lines
of Southern railroads a state of affairs that ep-
proaches that In the Cape Colony, and from all
that / have been able to gather; the same com.
in Africa, Those railroads, were not built fog
black natives, but for white Europeans and
freight. All the evidence goes to show that the,
Europeans in Africa have no respect whatever.
for the rights or comfort of the black Atrt.
cans. The advance guard has been bent only
upon conquest OF territory and the securing q
commercial, privileges. The teachings of, Eo-
ligion and humanity may follow after awhile,
but the prevailing policy has already done much
to embitter the minds of the natives against
the Europeans and their religion and thus
lay the foundations Of race Antagonisms which
will grow - intensity, and seriouspess az the
natives shall grow enlightened in the ciytlZ1r'
tion Of Europe. The greatest element Of dam
ger is In the general contempt which the Euro
peans entertain for the African and the African
character. It has been shown that. unlike the
contact with the whites, and that 1t docs mob
truckle under and accept without protest and
retaliation, as tho yellow races do. The black
man stands his ground and resorts TO diplo.
macy as well as violence to protect his inter:
States. the West Indies. and Africa. '
In the United states we have separate cars
and waiting rooms in the South. They are q
positive hardship and injustice, but their char
actcr for cleanliness and comfort issconBtantly
noyytn haFFar basnpaa q hllr nntntnn haNnanAa