The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1903-04-25

Bile shade of complexion and char
acter of hair, from the purest white
complexion with blue eyes and
blonde hair accompaniment to as
black as human beings get to be, al
belt their hair is not always kinky
nor their noses always fiat, may be
found among the, people classed as
negroes. So negro is not the proper
word to designate them. When one
sees the word negro or negress in
print, what is the appearance Of the
person who arises before the mental
vision? - 49,. As:s
A rose, by any other name, would
smell just as sweet, and the word ne
gro, if it were not such an opprobrius
name, as it is generally used, would
be no more Objectionable than any
other. "Colored people, is almost as
Objectionable as negro, as there is no
more probability or possibility of it's
being used as proper noun, and be-
ing Gignifed by capitalization than
negro Then. too, .''colored people,
might mean a lot of the worlds people
VINO are not Afro-Americans.
Rabbi Hirsch, of Chicago, in a re-
cent. address before the Chicago Wo-
mans Club, said: "Some persons in
this country, when they intend to be
extra polite, call the Jews, Hebrews,
but this we'll meant compliment is not
at all appreciated. We Jews, in this
country insist that our nationality is
not Jewish nor Hebrew but American.
And for myself, suppose I might be
called a Hebrew - German - eau
casian-American- but never
Hebrews" Now, if the Jews object
mentary way, we certainly ought to
object to those that do not properly
designate us or are used opprobrious
ly.
Nelson Page in recent article in
Golfers Weekly sneeringly referred
to the use OF the word Afro-American
and said when a negro gets educat-
ed he becomes an Afro-American.' y
Well, if being entitled to the appella-
ton, Afro-American, signifies educa-
ton, and, consequently, all the other
good things that follow in the train of
education, let us by all means insist
upon being designated as Afro-Amer'
leans. Afro-American, proper noun,
with it's two capitals certainly looks
more dignified, proud and patriotic
than negro invariably used as a com
mon noun and spelled with small n.
The prejudice against the Afro
American in the South. when he ap-
pears in any other capacity than a
menial is something unaccountable
and awful To illustrate, a story
which is told by southerner about
Register of the Treasury Lyons is a
case in point. The story was told by
a we'll known lawyer of Atlanta, Ca,
and is about as follows:
'Register OF the Treasury Lyons
was one of the first colored men ad-
mitted to the bar in my state. I am
a democrat of the rankest kind, but l
confess that l admire his rise.
Lyons practice was a success from
the time he was admitted, and I re-
member that very early in his career
he was employed in a case involving
the ownership of a pair of mules.
The case was to be heard in a small
town some distance from Augusta,
Lyons home
when Lyons appeared On the
scene there was considerable COM
ment over the fact that 'nigger had
come there to practice before the
court Lyons said he intended to
win the case regardless of what was
said about his being colored man;
that he knew he had law and justice
On his side, and that he did not be-
lieve his color would have anything
to do with it. The young lawyer who
was to go against the colored practi-
toner hooted at the idea of a niger
winning a case over him, but Lord
bless you, when Lyons got through
examining the witnesses and made
his argument he had covered the
ground completely. The opposing
counsel, a young fellow not long out
Of college, ranted around at some
length and poked jibes at the niger
lawyer but Lyons had handled the
case SO, admirably that the jury gave
a verdict for his client. Naturally
the young white lawyer was greatly
outraged and he appealed the case
to a higher court, where the decision
of the lower court was affirmed
This settled him, for he withdrew
from practice altogether, and died a
few weeks afterward. I don't say
that his defeat by colored lawyer
killed him, but I do know that he took
ii very hard"