Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-01-30
Mr.. WHITES SPEECH
The Negroes Temporary Farewell to
Congress.
WHAT THE RACE has ACCOMPLISHED
This Has Been Done in the Face
of Great Obstacles.
THE PROBLEMS SOLUTION

| With the close of this session Mr.. White
| Of North Carolina, the only colored man In
the House of Representatives, goes out of
| Congress. Yesterday afternoon, in the
House, Mr.. White pronounced 1.-The negro's
| temporary farewell to the American Con-
gress'' in an impassioned speech, which
| brought forth applause on the floor and in
| the galleries.
| 81 want to enter a plea for the colored
! man, the coIored woman, the colored boy
| and the colored girl of this country, said
| Mr.. White, in part IT would not thus d.
| gress from the question at issue and detain
| the House in a discussion Of the interests
| Of this particular people at this time out
| for the constant and the persistent efforts
| Of certain gentlemen upon this floor to mold
| and rivet public sentiment against us as
| people and to lose no opportunity to hold
| I'D the unfortunate few who commit crimes
and depredations and lead lives of infamy
| and shame, as other races do, as fair specl-
| mems of representatives of the entire col
| ored race. And at no time, perhaps, during
the Fifty-sixth Congress were these charges
| and countercharges, containing, as they 90,
| sanderous statements, more persistently
magnifed and pressed upon the attention
| of the nation than during the consideration
| Of the recent reapportiOnment bill. when
| ls now law. AS stated some days ago on
+, this floor by me, l then sought diligently
| to obtain an opportunity to answer some
| Of the statements made by gentlemen from
| different states, but the privilege was de-
| MED me; and 1 therefore must embrace
this opportunity to say out Of season, per-
| haps, that which 1 was not permitted to
| say in season
| What the Race Has Accomplished.
| 81 would like to advance the statement
| that the musty records of 1888, filed away in
the archives of southern capltols. as to
| what the negro was thrty-two years ago, 10
not proper standard by which the negro
living on the threshold of the twentieth CEN
! fury should be measured. Since that time
we have reduced the illiteracy of the race
| at least 45 per cent We have written and
| published nearly 800 books. We have nearly
800 newspapers, three of which are dailies.
| We have now in practice over 1000 lawyers
| and a corresponding number OF doctors
We have accumulated over ST., 900, 900 worth
| of school property and about S4O,O00.O0O
worth of church property. We have about
10000 farms and homes, valued at in the
| neighborhood Of $15OOOOO0O, and personal
| property valued at about $40 100000. We
| have raised about $11,O00,OOO for educational
purposes, and the property per capita for
| every colOred man, woman and child in the
| United States is estimated at $40.
| I'VE operating successfully several
| banks, commercial enterprises among our
people in the southland, including one silk
81, 600 teachers in the schools of the coun-
try; we have built, with the aid Of our
friends, about 10000 churches. and support
seven colleges, seventeen academies, fifty
high schools five law schools five medical
schools and twenty-five theological seminal
ries. We have over 100000 acres of land In
the south alone. The cotton produced.
mainly by black labor, has increased from
1869 40 bales in 1860 to II ,235,0O0 in 1899.
All this we have done under the most adj
verse circumstances We have done It in
- ,,11,,, ~,
with the humiliation Of Jim Crow cars,
| the disfranchisement of our male citizens,
| SANDER and degradation of our women,
| with the factories closed against us, no
| negro permitted to be conductor on the rail-
| way cars, whether run through the streets
| of our cities across the prairies of our
great country, no negro permitted to run
| engineer locomotive, most of the mines
| closed against us.
| Barred From Labor Unions.
Labor unions-carpenters, painters, brick
masons, machinists, hackmen and those
! supplying nearly every conceivable avoca-
| ton for livelihood, have banded themselves
| together to better their condition. but, with
| few exceptions, the black face has been left
| out. The negroes are seldom employed in
| our mercantile stores. At this do not
wonder. Some day we hope to have them
| employed in our own stores. With all these
| odds against u.s. We are forging way
| ahead, slowly, perhaps, but surely. You
may tie US and then taunt us for lack of
| bravery, but one day We will break the
| bonds. You may use our labor for two and
| a half centuries and then taunt US for our
| poverty, but let me remind you we will not
| always remain poor. You may withhold
even the knowledge of how to read Gods
| word and learn the way from earth to
| glory and then taunt us for our ignorance,
but we would remind you that there is
plenty of room at the top, and we are climb
ing;
| kindred horrors incident to slavery it comes
| with ill-grace from the perpetrators of these
| deeds to hold up the shortcomings Of some
| of our race to ridicule and scorn.
| 1.-THE new man, the slave who has grown
| out of the ashes Of thirty-five years ago. Is
| indicted into the political and social sys-
| tenn, cast Into the arena of manhood, where
| he constitutes a new element and becomes
| a competitor for all its emoluments. He Is
put upon trial to test his ability to be
counted worthy of freedom, worthy Of the
| elective franchise: and after thirty-five
| years of struggling against almost insur-
mountable odds, under conditions but little
| removed from slavery ITSELF he asks fair
| and just judgment, not Of those whose pref
| udice has endeavored to forestall, to frus-
! trate his every forward movement rather
| than those who have lent a helping hand,
| that he might demonstrate the truth of the
| 'fatherhood Of God and the brotherhood of
man.
| How to Solve the Problem
| "Now, Mr. Chairman, before concluding
| my remarks l want to submit brief recipe
for the solution OF the so-called American
negro problem. He asks no special favors
| but simply demands that he be given the
same chance for existence, for earning
| livelihood, for raising himself in the scales
of manhood and womanhood that are &C.
| corded to kindred nationalities. Treat him
| as a man; 60 into his home and learn Of his
social conditions: learn of his cares, his
troubles and his hopes for the future; gain
| his confidence; open the doors Of industry
| to him; let the word negro 'colored.' and
| black be stricken from all the organiza-
| lions enumerated in the Federation of La
| Dor.
Help him to overcome his weaknesses
| punish the crine-commtting class by the
| courts Of the land, measure the standard
of the race by its best material, cease to
mold prejudicial and unjust public senti-
| ment against him, and my word for it. he
will learn to support, hold up the hands of,
| and Join in with that political party, that
| institution, whether secular or religious in
every community where he lives. which is
destined to do the greatest good for the
| greatest number. Obliterate race hatred
party prejudice, and help US to achieve
nobler ends. greater results and become
mere satisfactory citizens to our brother
| in white.