The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-01-29
BY THE WHITE SHIELD

the Workings of His School They
Withdraw observation-disclosures
Separation of Schools.
The following statement by several men,
bers of the White Shield was sent to the
| editor of The Age-Herald yesterday:
Individual regents of the Order of the
White Shield have discussed publicly and
otherwise, with some sense of modification,
the arrangement made by the Birmingham
Lyceum to introduce Booker I. Washington
as public lecturer and authorized in
structor of the white society of this city.
! Our order is an active and Conscientious
force in this town and county, and in many
parts of the United States, contending for
the supremacy of the white race in civil
affairs. Regents who are honest with their
| duties could not avoid protest when an at
tempt is made here to bring forward any
| negro, whoever he may be or whatever at
| tainments in education he may have
| reached, as evidence to white audience
| that our accustomed social discriminate
against negroes in favor of whites has been
overdrawn and should in justice hereafter
| be relaxed. Therefore Regents of the
lite Shield who have raised the question
| of moral right in the Lyceum to introduce
negro on terms of equality with eminent
| white men to the lecture platform In this
/ city, have been quite within the limits of
| the letter and spirit of our patriotic order,
| the fundamental principle of which Is gov
| eminent, in all its ends and means, by the
| white race, and by the white race only.
| Fuller information and more mature re-
Election may induce the un1ers G led Rege is
| to condone the action of the Birmingham
| Byceum for this occasion only on conditions
| hereinafter expressed Incidentally we
| may mention that Robert Ingersoll's at
| tackS on organized religion did not exclude
him from the post of lecturer upon the
| platform in this town of churches; fam
| Gus rabbits refusal of the Christian faith
| did not operate to estop from a full house
| of Christian listeners here; Henry Waiter
sons fulsome eulogy of Lincoln and all
Lincoln stands for did not drop the veil of
| seclusion between the lecturer and the most
| devoted followers of Jefferson Davis. We
| are disposed to acknowledge the honest ef-
fort of the Lyceum. 1t stands here as the
| quicksilver behind the glass, to reflect from
| 1t to the eye of the masses facts that are
vital, ideas that are valuable, and persons
| who are important. 1t does not sit in judg-
ment. It's function begins and terminates
| with inquiry.
| Qualify Their Objections
In the case of Professor Washington, we
| are informed that there Is no precedent in
tended to be established of negro equality.
| Washington has founded a very remarkable
negro school. We understand he comes
| here to explain his work and that it is pro-
posed to meet him face to face to hear his
explanations, and If that is the object of
| the Lyceum in bringing him here as we
| now understand, then we cannot object. We
| are inclined to look upon him as practical
| forerunner of possible reform In the edu-
<Nf hov rurhf lob
| fail to be of great interest to the whites,
| and incidentally to the cause of the White
| Shield II 1t is prosecuted to an end. We
| think the white leaders of politics should
| begin to consider a total separation of the
system of public education in Alabama, so
| as to have two departments white de-
| partment under a white state superintend-
| ent and a negro department under a ne
| gro state superintendent, each department
| to be supported by the taxes of the race
| only to which 1t belongs. When the white
| political leaders of the state come to know
Washington's zeal and success as a teacher
| of his race. we will be surprised IL our sug
gestions of a division of the state public
| school system into two departments-one
| white and the other black-fails of favor
able consideration by our forthcoming con-
| stitutional convention.
White and Negro Schools
| We well know that the white taxpayers
d
| gress instead of a help. because they
| too poor to educate free three negroes out
| of every eight children of school age, and
| they resent the draft. We look upon
| Washingtons success and his methods as
| invaluable to his race and promise full
| of hope that his mission Is a leadership In
| the scheme of a separate negro public
| school department, dependent upon white
mems laws and negro taxation to conduct
1t.
Perhaps we may not be so 'broad and
liberal minded as some others, but we
draw our inspiration from that book
which teaches us that to those whom God
created in His own image, He gave do
minlon sovereignty over all inferior Great
ures; and from the same book we are
taught to render unto Caesar the things
that are Caesars and to do unto others
as we would have others do unto us. We
therefore accord cheerfully to everyone
the right and privilege of selecting their
own associates and sources of obtaining
knowledge; but as we have never yet felt
constrained to sit at the feet of negro TO
sip inspiration from his lips,we will. believe,
be iustly excused by our best fellow citizens
If we forego the privilege that might be
ours of occupying seats at the forthconi-
ing lecture of Professor Washington. pre-
ferring to relegate this privilege to those
of his own race who have, no doubt, n
greater interest in what he may have to
saw than we of toe white race can possibly
feel: and in doing so we are but doing
what we would that others should do unto
us If the lecturer was to be white man.
o. T. DOZIER,
c.. C. BATES,
8. H. HARRIS.
w. BECKLEY,
c. e. EDWARDS.
r. H. STEVENS.
WENT BROKE" ON HOPS.