The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1903-03-12
THE RACE PROBLEM IN THE
SOUTH.


In the February 10Th number OF The
independent, a weekly magazine pub
lished iii New York, a copy of which an
esteemed friend has left at hand tor
perusal, there is an article on he
Race Problem in the South by Samuel
Douglas McEnery, United States Sen
ator from Louisiana. The subject is dis
cussed interestingly and with logical
force, based on facts and conditions, a
knowledge of the inferior race by close
contact and study. Who better than the
white man, who from the earliest in
fancy has come in daily contact with
the negro, first as when children, then
as boys playing together, fishing and
hunting and INDUCING in all the sports
of youth? Is not such a man better
and safer critic than the man raised III
the North, where he has acquired more
or less partisan and prejudicial theories
and vagaries of the negro? Senator Nc
Emery has we'll said of the negro: He
holds no office in Northern states of
dignity and importance where his vote
is in certain localities the balance of
power. Why should the South accord
him privileges which are denied to him
in other sections of the Union::' -.
In his review of the race problem
Senator McEnery has delved into the
historical records of the antiquity and
in every instance the proof is that the
Caucasian has dominated over all the
inferior races. 1t is as possible to elm
mate these racial distinctions as it is to
remove the leopard's spots by which
this ferocious animal is distinguished at
a glance from all the wild beasts of the
forest or the jungle After a careful
perusal of this article we must COM
mend Senator McEnery's presentation
of a subject that should impress favor
ably the minds prepared to be lntlu-
enced with reasonable facts and ready
to receive the truth, but the editor Of
The Independent in caustic editorial
reviews Mr.. McEnery's article, the logic
Of which he attempts in vain to min
inize by addressing himself to his
readers. in a tone and temper which in
dicates that he has not outgrown the
prejudiced, the fanatieal impressions
left on his mind by Uncle Toms Cabin
and similar sensational stories, sug-
gested at time when the Ptlritanical
spirit at the North dominated and led
to an internicene war the like of
which is without a parallel in history
and which shocked the civilized worth
with horror. Unfortunately the editor
Of The Independent is afflicted with
negroism from which he can never re-
cover, and therefore he is not compe-
tent to criticise SO serious a subject,
which in its consideration should have
enlisted his best thoughts and most
liberal views. This man, however, is a
fair sample of millions in the North,
prejudiced in mind and body, who in
sist on the social and political equality
Of the African and the Caucasian in the
South but would abhor, revolt at the
very suggestion Of negro son-in-law,
or of the negro being introduced and
entertained ii the company of his wife
and daughters and their lady friends
In words indefinite this man holds to
ridictlle the declaration of Mr.. Mem
cry. the truth of which supported by
Divine authority, is that the dHsaIge-
fioH of The races is impossible, and to
sustain his vagaries as to negro equal
ity and the paroxysrnal impulse now
taking possession of the negro race in
this century,, he points to the last half
century during which, he says, the
japanese nation with the Caucasian
take a front rank among the strong and
nations of the world. 1t is
true the progress Of the japanese has
been wonderful, but they are Of the
Il
Monaghan race and can never rise to
the Caucasian, who must dominate, III |
time. the entire world, and while the
negro will advance and progress eff let
alone by the Puritanical fanatics of the
North he can never expect to reach al
plane of the superior races, first Of |
which is the Caucasian, then the Mon
golian and the other races in their
order. but with all his eaustic criticism
and tart words. The Independents ed
itor could not conceal his ignorance,
which is unpardonable in one Of his sta
lion and which he displays absurdly in
his view Of what he styles miscegena-
ton. It is true there have been re-
proachful liasoms between white men
and negro women in the South, but this
evil and disgracefuf practice is limited