Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-09-28
MEETING RACE ISSUE
VIEWS OF EIGHT REPRESENTA-
TIVE CoLoRED MEN.
Result of Conference in Which Con-
sentative Thought Was Sought
by Dr. Babbitt.

The Rev. DIR. Dean Richmond Rabbit,
rector of the Church of the Epiphany
Brooklyn. who has pursued the study Of
the race problem in various parts of the
country. and who has lectured. preached
and written on the subject extensively. met
in a conference Friday night eight selected
representative cOlored men of Washington,
who have deeply their races interest at
heart, to ascertain from them by definite
and categorical questions the exact pur-
poses and wishes as they judged Of the
negro race in America. These men were
Rev. F. J. Grimke. pastor of the Fifteenth
Street Presbyterian Church: Prof. Kelly
Miller of Howard University, Jno c. Dancy.
recorder of deeds; Cyrus Field Adams. as
Sistant register of the United States treas
ury; Dr. o. NJ. Atwood. a practicing ply
stefan; Thomas H. r. Clarke. Whitfield
Mckinley. real estate dealer, and j. w.
Lyons. register of the treasury.
The object of DR.. Rabbit was a discus
sion. friend of the cOlored race. of the
pressing problem in all of its aspects, with
the thoughtful conservative minds among
the negroes themselves. The general re-
suits as formulated in the signed answers
by these eight men, were as follows: The
spreading prejudice against the colored
race is occasioned by the appeal to race
passions on the part of selfish politicians;
the cure for this prejudice is the applfca-
ton of Christian morals and religion, and
the just execution of the laws; 1t is desir-
able that political rights should be en-
phatically insisted on among whites and
blacks and that the fourteenth and fifteenth
amendments should be held intact They
held strongly that it is not the desire. wish
purpose of the negroes, race, to
seek, maintain. empha size or touch social
equality with the whites as a consequence
of equal political rights, and urged strongly
that the negroes education should not be
limited to industrial training.
AS to the crime Of rape, and other crimes
Of their race. they held, while admitting
many of these crimes, that their race knew
that the number of crimes had been gross
ly exaggerated by their enemies for the
deliberate purpose of arousing prejudice
against the negroes for selfish purposes.
and that the best way TO meet these exag-
gerations Is to collect and publish the real
facts, and the best work of cooperation to
lessen these crimes was by an appeal to
the clergy of their race to teach strongly
against crime, by limiting the cause of In
temperance. from which many crimes origi-
mated, and by the application of moral and
religious forces and the just and strict en-
fOrcement of the laws.
Suggestion Of Remedies.
In suggesting means for what they called
1.-The present crusade of many southern
politicians 10 make sentiment against the
negroes for the repeal of tine constitutional
amendments" they held that there should be
the thorough organization of their race, I'M
der capable and respected leaders, and an
appeal to the moral and religious sentiment
of the country. and especially to the white
clergy of the Christian churches, who can
read in their Bibles no doctrine of a gospel
of hatred but who taught there kind
ness. mercy and pity to the oppressed-the
fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of
man" They also held that most powerful
method of meeting 1.-The crusade of the
southern politicians is by IAN appeal to
the American press to do justice to a
class of American citizens who have been
constantly misrepresented through their
columns by an organized. deliberately per-
sistent crusade of our enemies" AS to the
formation of separate political party. they
reprobated the idea. All these reasons and
sentiments were embodied in written an
swers to nine categorical questions pro-
pounded the conference by Rev. DIR. Bah
bitt, and these answers were signed by all
present