The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-11-17
Negroes Outward aracteristi.
Changed to Some Extent by
environment
SHOULD NOT OBJECT TO LAWS
STATUTES FORBIDDING INTERNAR-
RAGE FOR NEGRO BENEFIT.
Persons of Mixed Blood of wenR Con-
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES as a Race
Making Rapid Progress.
correspondence of the Indianapolis Journal.

Correspondence Of the Indianapolis Journal.
NEW YORK, Nov. 15.-Since President
Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington
TO luncheon at the White House scientific
men have discussed the question how the
negro problem may be solved in the United
States.
Among the several New York physi-
clans of renown whom your correspondent
interviewed on the subject the famous
DR.. JacOby held that 'the negro who has
good schooling and lives amid cultured
surroundings will improve as readily as a
white man will under the same circum-
stances" Speaking of the color line, the
doctor said that culture and environment
have no direct influence upon the cranial
and skin development of a person, though
the farther north the negroes go the
lighter will be the skin of the future gen.
e~rations of Afro-Americans.
While climate and culture will not in
huence the individual directly. it will affect
the offspring" continued the physician,
for the more intelligent the father or
mother becomes the greater will be their
influence upon the skull formation and
general appearance of their children"
In this opinion the noted New York ply
stefan is Indirectly borne out by the con-
oNAoUo VI AAOONAA oNACANAAAN AnCll NLOSc IL
vestigations proved that acquired traits
and bodily idiosyncracies are not trans
missible by heredity-
Take a family OF negroes who have made
It a point to bleach through several
generations; the mere fact of artificial
bleaching would not have any influence,
without intermarriage, upon their off
spring. Even after ten or more genera
TfoDG tho offGprfnU of such artilciallV
bleached negroes would be black. Why
this should be so science does not fully
explain. Even the most advanced minds
fail to answer the question directly, and in
discussing the subject do not go beyond
the general observation that it is the pur-
pose Of nature TO preserve races as SUCH
The truth of this assertion is demonstrated
most forcibly by the fact that the mutila-
ton OF the human body, practiced for
many thousand years by the adherents of
several religious creeds. have been abso-
lutely without influence upon the formation
Of the races newborn.
DANGEROUS AGITATION.
DR.. Jacoby thinks the negro agitation
against antimiscegenation laws, which are
on the statute books of twenty-four States,
a very foolish undertaking on the part of
Afro-Americans. ITO the blacks" he said,
'intermarriage is death. Our mixed
blooded feIow-citizens exhibit a woeful
lack Of resisting power against mental and
physical disease. Consumption, lung
troubles and mental deterioration, are most
frequent among mulattoes, quadroons and
octoroons. l am convinced that the whole
strength of the negro race depends on its
nonintermarriage with other races. And
that is true of all races. The fact that
the Jews nave preserved their strength
throughout the entire history of the world,
in spite of many hardships and persecu-
ton. is TO a great extent due to their non
mixture with other races.
/ submitted TO DR.. Jacoby some records
about the prevalence of white, or nearly
white, negroes in the United States. Very
interesting said the doctor, but you
should know that albinism is most fire.
quent in the negro and Indian races-lt Is
due 10 the absence Of the minute particles
Of coloring matter which ordinarily under
lies the skin and also the membranes OF
the eyes. But it is hereditary only in the
same degree as blindness and deafness.
To show that albinoes are merely creatures
of accident 1 only need quote Darwin, who
tells Of two brothers who married sisters.
their first cousins; none of the four. nor
any relatives. being albinoes. But the sew
en- children produced in this double mar
rage were all perfect albinoes. Albinism
occurs also in many species of animals:
everybody has heard of white mice, white
rabbits, white elephants. even white black
birds. The menagerie of the New York
Central Park harbors several white deer"
TALK WITH DIR. SHRADY.
DIT. George F.. Shrady regards the fact
81. A.. -.s-oI- h1ooIeH AfrO-AmpriCan lS
condemned to sterility in the fourth gen.
Grafton as a safeguard against the APP
parent loss of racial peculiarities. He said.
1T has yet to be proved that even Gloss
breeding ever eliminated negro blood in an
individual. Historical research shows that
IL requires ages TO throw off or discharge
from the human system any racial charac-
teristic."
1t is generally known that the presence
of a tinge Of negro blood in an apparently
white person manifests itself in dark lines
under the finger nails: another unmistak-
able sign is a dark streak along the spine.
To illustrate the chaotic character Of the
opinions prevailing on the questions dis
cussed. DIT. Shrady told the following
anecdote. "A man who has Travelled every
where. except liz America. cane TO NE the
other day" he said, "and attempted 10
demonstrate that the color OF skin was
determined by that of the soil. The Ma
LAYS he argued. reside on yellow soil
ergo. their skin is a bright golden color;
the soil Of Africa is as black as the SKIN
OF her inhabitants, the Hold, L CRIED
have you ever seen a red J~erseymanY
DR.. Shrady was much interested in the
story of a colored Methodist preacher who
of late attracted attention by the whiteness
of his skin. He is a full-blooded Afro
American, and proud of the fact; yet the
superficial observer will be inclined to re-
gard him a Caucasian. the more so as MS
phvsiegnony does not recall the oIsiinc-
tive pecuIfarities of the negro race TO any
noticeable 0egree. He has a pale. inteilec-
tual face. exhibiting a few black Spots
which are generally accounted Tor a
remnants OF the carbonic matter that orig
inally Law between his true skin and the
outer cuticle. That impression. however. is
erroneous. the marks are the result Oh a
akin disease contracted b. the gentleman