The colored American., 1900-05-26

| There is no reason for dependency. the
negro in the south is in a more hopeful
condition than the serfs of Russia, has
brighter prospects than the peasants OF
France and throughout the United States
| exercises more influence and control IN
government than an equal number OF Wnlte
people in the same material condition that
can be found anywhere in Europe we
may have to struggle for decades ana cen
| turtles before we get upon our feet but out
of the struggle we will gain strength and
confidence that we secure in no other
way. We shall get more out OF struggle
than out of cOntentment
| Place today every desire of the heart at
our feet and within few centuries our
usefulness, strivings and ambitions Will
disappear.
InterraciaI CO-OperatiOn the Remedy.
| Now 1 come to that part of the discus
sion upon which you and 1 most likely
Ito disagree-that of the relation of the
races. In this matter I favor the negro
taking an absolutely impregnable position,
la position away up on high ground; po-
Isition where in future years there will be
nothing to regret and nothing to explain.
want to see the negro be greater If posi-
Ible, in sympathy than the white man. No
race or individual can cherish hatred or
lpractice injustice and cruelty against an
other race or individual without growing
weak and narrow, without the conscience
becoming scared and blunted to all the
higher and sweeter things in life. If for no
higher reason, in Self-defenSe, we should
, Ilearn to love instead Of hate.
| l want to see the black man take his
! place on high ground, away up in the at
ImOsphere of usefulness, generosity, love
and forgiveness.
| If any white man would be mean, let us
be good; if any white man would be little,
, let US be great; If any white man would
, push US down, let us help push him up. If
others can excel US hating, let us excel
them in loving. If others can excel us in
acts of cruelty let US excel them in acts
of mercy. You may call this cowardice; II
$50, it is the kind of cowardice that the
lChrist taught and practiced, and it is the
kind of cOWardice that in the long run Will
win our cause.
: In plain words, the negro must learn to
. do what the white man does, what every
other race does, and that is make constant
Ieffort in every manly, straightforward,
honorable way, not by crouching or debaS-
: ing himself to make friend of the man by
: whose side he lives.
= This is the policy that the white man
I from the north pursues; this is the policy
t that the white man from Europe pursues.
: This is the policy that the black Cuban
0 pursues in reference to the white Cuban.
= This is the policy that the negro in Jamaica
purSueS in reference to the white man in
Jamaica.
! Negro Should Be Sensible I'm Politics.
While in national politics L am a republi-
can, and expect to remain such till l
, discover something better, yet am free to
say that there is little reason why in the
! future We should pursue the policy of ar
raging ourselves in all local matters solidly
i in politics against the men whose interests
are mutually our own, and to whom we go
naturally for assistance and advice.
. | The negro in the south has as much right
| to consult the interests of his immediate
| employer in regard to his voting has the
| laborer in New York or Ohio L have little
t | faith in the negro who abuses the southern
white in public and goes in the dark
| to beg the southern man for money to help
] him out of difficulty. Let be manly and
straightforward. In the future, more than
| in the past, it should be the policy of the
| best representatives of the two races in the
| various communities TO come together in
| small meetings, to come face to face, 10
shake hands and talk as brother TO brother
| concerning the problems that surround US.
Since the negro is the weaker race, in most
| cases he must take the initiative.
| During recent weeks we have heard
many mutteringS as to the citizenship of
our race The south's material prosperity
is in a large degree bound up in the negro.
, | There are hundreds of counties in the south
which if deprived of the black mans pres
ence and toll would soon be bowling wilder
nesses. The south cannot afford to jeop-
ardize it's prosperity by any practice that
keeps alive in the negro a spirit of unrest,
of fear of suspicion; feeling that life
and property are not Safe feeling that
opportunities for education may be re-
moved and he eventually deprived of his
citizenship.
All this tends to keep the negro shifting
from one portion of the country to another
and worst of all, results in his leaving the
large plantation districts of the south
where his labor is needed, for the cities,
| where his labor is not, as rule, needed.
| Fifteenth Amendment to Remain.
IoN% 5oxy haa~ oh