The colored American., 1902-02-08
the United Statessis given equal pro-
lection under the law.
THE SUFFRAGE QUESTION.

Inc great QuSSllOu pressing 1OI SCI
tlement at the present time is the
constitutional right to vote. That is
the basal question in government by
the people; for all other questions are
dependent upon it. We vote to elect
State and National officers; to deter
mine the policy of government, and to
appropriate money for the operation
of the same. Nothing can be done
in this Government until the repre-
sentatives of the people vote to have
it done. So you see that the ballot
in the hands of a free American citi-
zen is his engine of civilization by
which he FORCES to the front. Under
our system the man without the ballot
can never be equal to the man with
the ballot.
Have we convict lease systems at
the South worse than the prisons OF
Siberia; have we lynching and burn
ing at the stake; have we "jim-crow'
cars, and waiting rooms for colored
women at railroad stations in the
South that would put to shame the
"black holes" of Calcutta? They have
all come since the black man has been
deprived of his constitutional right to
vote.
Are we to live in this Government
and be part of it? Then we must
vote; for the American people have
no use for man without a vote
The immortal Declaration of Inde-
pendence declares that all men are
created equal, but we all know that
the man with no vote is not the equal
of the man with a vote, in any system
of government like ours. The Four
teenth Amendment to the Federal Con-
stitution guarantees to every citizen
equal protection under the law. The
man with vote can protect himself,
but the man without a vote is at the
mercy of his fellows
Are you a minister of the gospel?
you should declare it from the pulpit
that next to seeking the Kingdom of
God every man should do his full
duty as citizen to his government.
Are you an instructor of youth? you
should instil into the bosom of your
pupil the spirit of patriotism, and the
performance of duty as an American
citizen. Are you the editor of a paper
or magazine? you should impress upon
your readers the necessity of standing
by the Constitution, and of doing lust
What 1t directs to be done, even 10
the cutting down of representation
from the States that deny the right of
suffrage on account of race, color OF
previous conditions OF servitude. Are
you an orator or race leader? you
should arouse the people from ocean
to ocean on the great question of man.
hood rights for American citizens.
This is the time that calls for lead
ership among the men of our race.
Who can answer here am II"
For twenty-five years we nave stood
still, If, indeed, we have not gone back
ward politically speaking Not a soli-
tary measure has passed Congress
looking towards the protection of our
rights since Grant left the White
House quarter of century ago. The
civil rights law has been declared IN
constitutional, in the States. and the
work of notification has almost COM
Dleted the disfranchisement of the
Negro at the South, and yet we are
totally Indifferent to the causes that
have worked our ruin. Langston has
been gathered unto his fathers, and
the voice of Douglass is forever hush
ed in death, and the men of this gen
Grafton are simply drifting on the
wave of public opinion, going where
it carries them without any directing
force of their own. The heather Chi
nese even rises up in judgment to con-
denim this generation of Negroes in
America. | see it stated in the public
press that in one months time SAC, 900
were raised by the Chinese in the
United States TO fight the re-enact-
ment of the Chinese exclusion law.