The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1901-02-21
NUMBER so.
THE NEGRO IN THE SOUTH.
A PerpleNing Problem Yet to BE Solved il
the Right Way.

The darkest problem in the South
is the negro problem. And negro is
the right word to use; no other name
fits the case.
Whether this perpleXing problem
ever will be solved remains to be seen.
One thing is certain-the Tight plan
for its solution has not vet been found.
Many of the wisest heads of both
races have been severely cudgled to
find a way out of the snarl, so far
without success. Another thing is
equally certain: If this problem is
not solved by the right method-yet
undiscovered-it will speedily set
about solving itself Just so sure as
and make so sure will the negro
race stand in a new relation to their
environments before the first quarter
OF the goth century shall have passed.
And this is not written to reveal the
plan that must be found, but rather
to direct the attention to the mis-
takes that have hitherto been made
in dealing with the race When these
mistakes have been rightly looked at
possibly the needed plan will begin
to reveal itself
And let me say, first, emancipation
of the negro was not mistake; that
was an inavitability. Our civiliza-
ton had reached plane from which
human bondage was viewed as con
dition quite intolerable for any race.
Our way of securing freedom for the
negro was unhappily the most unfor-
tunate. Yet the very way or manner
OF the contamination was of little
moment-it had to come, and the
method by which it came was no
doubt as good as another that might
have been adopted. With us, more
than any other nations, it was the
desperate disease requiring the des-
perate remedy"
But-at least as | look at 1.-THE
first mistake in dealing with the
negro after his emancipation was fail
ing to colombo him. This should have
been completed before the sixties had
passed. Three millions of the race
could have been handled with com
parative ease. Can nine millions eUer
be handled in such transaction? As
to how and where to colonize would
be vain to answer or give an opinion
on now. Had the purpose been
formed the way and place have been
found
The second mistake was unlimited
acknowledgements. 1t was not so much
vote the slave needed but freedom.
1t was not vote the freedman need
ed but direction and protection. The
freeing made him ward of the ma
ton; the vote was gift, and it might
have been more wisely bestowed. Ii
one in five, or even one in ten, had
been given the ballot the negro vote
would have been worth more to the
political parties than it has been. In
the very nature of things an article
so bad as the average negro vote
could bring no good to any party or
cause. We all see this plainly enough
now; wonder and pity statesmen
failed to see it 30 years ago.
The third mistake name was over
education. Of course, | speak here
of secular education. Two months of
schooling out of the twelve and ten
months of work would have suited
the race much better than eight or
ten months at the books, and the
small remaining fraction of the year
at work. And the range of instruc-
ton should have been very limited.
The primer and chiid's book might
have left the new learner humble and
simple as his books; pushing him on
prematurely to the higher branches
has, in too many cases, made a con-
ceited fop. This is not intended to
apply to a Booker Washington or
Bishop Payne Such as these-rare
eAceptions-would always find their
way past limitations and reach their
high places. Neither would l say
one word against such schooling OF
the race as is being done at Tuskeegee
There is room and work for fifty such
men and schools today. And such
workers would get better results if
the start had not been on too ambi-
tious a plane, Wisely taught the race
should not have been led away from
that meekness anC humility so emf
nently fitting a people in the Negroes
condition Immediately succeeding the
civil war. The teaching he has been
under has made him highminded and
restless.
These statements are not unadvis-
edly made, and they will not be dis
proved by contradictions from thou
sand miles away. Indeed, no man
can adequately study the negro prob
lem in Maine or Michigan. On the
ground where ne grows is the place to
study him.
A deeper view of the problem will
ba fol Loft