The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1903-08-08
THE RACE PROBLEM.
lCor. Raymond Hazalte.

This subject, like Banquo'sl
ghost, will not down, and to be
fashionable, one must write about |
it. Whether or not there is an
unsettled problem from the view
point of the man of the South, /
may be a matter subject to theory |
and open to discussion. Be that
as it may, certain it is we are con-
fronted with a condition, in and
about which the negro figures
largely. That he is incapable Of
self governmental and never can and
never will dominate the white
race, however much he may pre-
dominate as to numbers, goes
without saying. But as a fact, he
is here, and very largely here tol
stay for many years to come.
When confronted with facts, it is
the part of wisdom to face them
and make the best of them. The
logic O. this is to make the best
negroes we can. The term MAKE
is used advisedly, for it is with
the whites to make or unmake the
negro of the South. All that he
has and all that he is, is due to-
them. What may be said of him
as to the past, may be said with
unerring certainty as to the flu
TUE. His destiny in the South
hangs upon the white people of
the South and by them or through
them, he may stand or fall. If in
this vital question there is so
much dependent upon US, our own
race pride naturally impels us to
a settlement of the matter that will
be alike honorable to us and just
to the negro. When once we
have, with all our Southern i'm
pulses, set our faces to the task,
we need not fear results. In
taking up this white mans bur-
den, I'VE have three sets of peo-
pie to deal with-the people of
the North, the people of the South
and the negro himself. As to the
first, we invoke only the LET
ALONE POLICY. In the light
of recent events, we may conclude
that the day is breaking in that
quarter. AS to ourselves, we
have only to appeal to our senti-
ments of right and Justice and the
chivalry inherited through a long
line of ancestors, that will not per-
NIT the strong to trample upon
the weak or prevent the strong
hand to be outstretched to lift up
the fallen, even though he be a
foe. AS to the negro himself,
we, know him-his weaknesses,
foibles, and his good traits. Let
us first convince him that what's
called race prejudice, docs not ex-
list on account of the color of his
skin, but on account of the in
feriority of his race, and that we
have no prejudice against the
color, black. The white gentleman
does not object to black when he
selects suit of clothes for dress
occasions or for Sunday wear; nor
does he object to the color of the
beautiful black horses when he
seeks to provide one for his use
and for his stables; the blacker
his shoes are the better he feels,
and the better he is dressed. The
white lady does not object to a
black dress, be it silk, muslin or
calico. Ii cannot be said that
black, in itself, is a repugnant color
to the white race. The negro
must look to something else be
sides the color of his skin to ac-
count for the cause that differen-
tiates his race so widely from ours.
When he recognizes this, he will
be the better able to be content
with the position in the social scale
that God and nature have assigned
him on this planet. Let him re-
member that his race, dating it's
existence from the early dawn of
creation, has made no history and
has left no monuments. That
from the cradle of the human race,
could and would have emer-
ged making footprints along the
paths of progress and civilization,
were it not for his race inferiority.
Let the negro learn to understand
the paradox that to his race, slave
ry was its greatest good, and that
the instrumentality that brought
him into American slavery was
the Moses that led him out of
Egypt and the land of darkness.
Let us educate him to the
knowledge and comprehension of
these indisputable truths; let us
give him the opportunity of learn
ing for himself that these things.
are SO; let us give him light rather
than darkness, and education along
the right lines rather than ignor-
ance. Let US be true to our own
racial instincts and honorable in
our dealings with the negro, and
all will be well.
ANGLO SAXON.
Circuit court will be in session
at Williamsburg, Covingtion conn-