The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1899-06-10
/. ADDRESS To- THE NATION
Adopted by the National Afro-Amer-
lean Council at Washington, d.
c., Dec. 80, 1898.

In the present condition Of the race, which
! is abnormally disturbed in one section of the
| country and comparatively composed in the
sion that we cannot arrive at the desired ends
wholly through any lone method. There are
certain things which those OF US who live
oeher things which those 81 us who i've Is the
ent methods to reach the same ends, but the
In the North the work of agitation, OF pro.
essential to the cause: 2 The Northern as' and
| upon our grievances and accurately informed
as to their nature and extent. In the South
the work Of education and internal develop
! ment can best be determined and carried on
by the wise men of us in the Southern states
who have done so much since the War Of the
Rebellion to pave the way: for our future
life. We think that it is important that this
view Of the matter should not be log sight Of
for a moment.
and Interpretation or the intentions Of all
members of the race who have capacity and
probty, and who are working for the general
good. The vast extent of our country and the
multiplicity of interests and the local preju-
dices OF any sort, OutgroWing from phenOm-
email ethnic differentiations, which must have
proper time for inevitable assimilation, makes
imperative a broad liberation among US of
wide difference of opinion as to the best ways
and means to secure the best results in given
localities, which must determine the final
result for veal or woe.
So much of general character may be ac-
cepted without sacrificing one principle of
manhood or citizen right, tor that would be
to- which we. adhere without deviation or
qu1bb1e. %..e :. So.
AS q fair statement Of our convictions we
affirm It that there is no manhood or citizen
right guaranteed to us~by the federal consti-
t:tion which we do not claim and denial Of
which by state constitutions against which we
do not protest.
Passing from abstract statement Of senti-
ment to concrete statement Of fact we have
to congratulate ourselves that the race has
everywhere grown stronger and stronger in
thrift and of Intelligence. There Is; no con-
tention here. Friends and foes alike admit
it. Those who predicted that we should starve
Us nrod%ce more and re mere 10 th see
in condition OF Slavery; those who prophe-
sled that we were incapable Of mastering the
to see us fill 200 colleges in the South with
anxious students and to supply q, 900 compe-
tent teachers in the public schools of the
wGse WHITE
while our ignorant ministry has been trans
formed into one of the strongest and most
s Of IN ahs
and journalism have competent representa-
tives in every considerable community in the
rep996blic which command the respect and
We affirm it as q matter of fact, which
cannot be refdted, that the Atro-American
Is stronger and better today than
more moral, more religious, more intelligent;
that it has larger bank deposits, owns more
real and personal property. and lives in bet
Georgia, recently expressed It in the New
York Sun, no people have ever made greater
IL ye aape eRg Of m Where here
we would become dependent, pauper race
In q condition or freedom, we have proved |
ourselves a self-sustaining race, producing |
rreen1en to the enrichment of the commerce
81 the states OF the South than was ever
dreamed Of In the philosophy of the slave |
master. We appeal to the statistics of cot
ton and cereal and mineral production before
and since the war to sustain our contention.
We have notproduced all the wealth of the |
South since the war-we have produced our
honest share produced vastly more as free
man than we produced as a slave-and, in |
stead Of becoming public charges have be- |
share in the wealth we have produced and |
'ejoice in It and in the strength the expansion |
and the glory of the republic, of which we |
:ently affirmed, among the first families, and
n whose past achievement and present glory. |
n war and in peace: we. claim. by right of |
EQUAL share and participation.
It seems to us strange and unnatural that |
we should have to turn from the magnificent |
IN peace and in war. to specific grievances
which go at the very roots Of our citizenship, |
and to appeal from the injustice and inhu- |
the justice and fairness ana Christian char
ty inherent in the heart and the soul Of the |
great American people. But we have to do |
Christian iatth and $50 yss Of Education IN
american law and precedent that we shall |
not appeal IN vain. We have lived in darker
American fusfice and fair play 20 through |