The colored American., 1900-05-26
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There is no reason for dependency. The
negro in the south is in 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 white
people in the same material condition that
can be found anywhere in Europe We
may have to struggle for decades and CEN
turies 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 a few centuries our
usefulness, Strivings and ambitions Will
disappear.
InterraciaI Cooperation the Remedy.
Now 1 come to that part of the discus
sion upon which you and I are most likely
to agree-that of the relation of the
races. In this matter I favor the negro
taking an absolutely impregnable position,
a position away up on high ground; po-
sition where in future years there will be
nothing to regret and nothing to explain. L
want to see the negro be greater if posi-
BILE, in sympathy than the white man. No
race or individual can cherish hatred or
practice 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
learn to love instead of hate.
l want to see the black man take his
place on high ground, away up in the at
mosphere of usefulness, generosity, love
and forgiveness.
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
= tl,A,,o ,,,1 10rvir, 9TH in,
acts of cruelty, let US excel them in acts
of mercy. You may call this cowardice; If
so, it is the kind of cowardice that the
Christ 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
effort in every manly, straightforward,
honorable way, not by crouching or debas-
ing himself to make a friend of the man by
whose side he lives.
This is the policy that the white man
from the north purSueS; this is the policy
that the white man from Europe purSues.
This is the policy that the black Cuban
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 In Politics.
While in national politics 1 am republi-
can, and expect to remain such till 1 can
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
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 much right
to consult the interests of his immediate
employer in regard to his voting as has the
laborer in New York or Ohio. L have little
faith in the negro who abuses the southern
white man in public and goes in the dark
to beg the southern man for money to help
him out of difficulty. Let US be manly and
straightforward In the future, more than
in the past, it should be the policy of the
various communities to come together in
small meetings, ITO come face to face, TO
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 its 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
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
arge 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.