The Twin-City American., 1899-05-18
Southern Brutality.

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many who discuss the recent ex-
hibition of Southern barbarism
will weigh facts2 How many
white men will allow calm judg-
ment to take the place of race
hate and prejudice before declaring
that the Negro is guilty of the
foul crimes charged against him9
How many will consider the lack
of value of confession under du-
ress1 How many will think ana
comprehend the fact that Ameri-
can slavery made brutes and iiends
of the white men who dealt in hu-
man flesh and blood and that the
evil effects of the accursed system
of man stealing still has demon
grip upon the upholders of slavery
and their descendants2
What are the factsi Who
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knows, and how have they been
proven1 | mean the facts of the
murder with which the victim of
| Newman savagery was charged.
Are these facts, is there evidence
which would stand exposure to
the light1 Who in the North can
answerS Are the words of white
fends of more value than protes-
tations of innocence of men who
have ever been the victims of the
brutality and savagcry of the i'm
placable assailants of the lives,
liberty and elevation of the col
ored people7 OF what worth is
the word of a man who lynches
on mere suspicion9 The brutes
at Newman, Ga, did this with one
of their victims without doubt and
when all the circumstances showed
that he could not have been
guilty of the offense alleged
They are the brutes who state
that Hose confessed. What is
that statement worth? Is it oil
sufficient value to found the lee
lures upon, and so called advice
some of the Negro hating papers
are giving our people1 There is
too much assumption that the
4 Negro is beast and too much
averting the eye from the truth
that ignorance, bestiality, licen.
tiousness and cruelty in their low.
est forms are the controlling in.
fluences that dominate the white
savages of one-half of our coun-
try. These savages are the
people who tell us of confessions
of their victims. Their state
ments are worse than worthless
The Washington Post, paper
whose tone is that of Negro hate,
comes at us in this style; "For
the Negro to regard this astound-
ing monstrosity as a cause for
class hatred were to be as wicked
as the whites. They
should not degrade themselves
by espousing the cause of Hose
any more than we propose to
degrade ourselves by condoning
the infamy of his murderers." 1t
is easy TO read between the lines
of the above quotation. While
pretending to deprecate race pref
udice the editor OF the Post deals
in insinuations and implications of
a character shrewdly calculated
to keep alive and give vigor to
the very disposition it processes
to abhor. What fact has the Post
upon which to base the idea that
the Negro does indulge in hatred
of the whitei When did the
Negro ever espouse the cause of
crime or sympathize with proven
criminal7 Why should the Post
attempt to direct the thought of
white people into a channel that
runs toward race hate and un-
governable prejudice by circuit
ously laying at the black mans
door that which should be carried
directly and deposited at the
doors Of the hends who have in
herited the licentious and savage
proclivities OF man stealers and
cradle robbers?
| II the Post desires to assert that
attacks upon women are the
crimes peculiarly of Negroes. it
travels a long way from the facts
land ignores the deviIish lIbertin-