The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1903-07-04

every civilized and peaceluiz hletnou w
must strive Tor the rights Wh1ch the 49, ~
accords to men, clinging unWaverineiy "
those great words which the sons OF the
fathers would fain forget: We hold lnese
truths to be sef-ev1dent: mat an ne a
are created equal; that they are enooMSia
by their Creator with certain lnallenaple
rights; that among these are life, Aperty'
and the pursedt OF happiness - &
The writer is intensely in earnest, po-
etic, eloquent, passionate and sincere. IN
of the country, and he speaks for millions
Of the race. There is, however, one dis
cordant note. and that is the adverse crit
icism Of Booker +: Was sn1 i,o1 mr.;
been misunderstood by the Learned pro.
lessor, and he does the great advocate of
industrial education a great injustice
There Is no dr nj Inc
cultured advocate of higher education.
The adoption of industrialism does not
mean the abandonment OF any constltu-
tional rights. Nowhere in his writings or
his speeches has Mr.. Washington advised
his people to give up their rights; he as
ever advised them to hold on to every one
now accorded and by the practice OF m
dustry and thrift to secure a firm posses
sion Of all now enjoyed and the acknoWl-
edgment of those denied which the ac-
QUESTION of wealth will surely .give,
one of his latest public utterances, an
address delivered before the Brooklyn In
stitute Of Arts and Sciences, among other
1.-The Negro has lived for over two cen
turtles in the midst of the people VINO,
from pulpit to rostrum, through the press
and in school, in legislative halls and on
many a battlefield, have been constantly
unfolding the doctrine that the most com
plete development of each human being
can come only through his being permit
ted to exercise the most complete freedom
| Under these conditions the Negro nat
| urally had wrought into every fibre OF his
being a belief that if freedom is good for
sary to the well being Of others; 1t is i'm
possible that the imprisoned plea OF Pat
rick Henry. Give me liberty or give me
death; should have had no i influence n3 upon %a
| not have in him that which spurred him
| toward the acquiring Of those qualities
which you consider most, essential, ne1tner
the white man at the North nor the Wnlte
! for him or confidence in his future.
Patiently, quietly, doggedly, persist
emily, through summer and winter, sun n,
shine and shadow, by self sacrifice by
must re-enforce argument with results.
| One farm bought, one. house bullt, one
| home sweetly and intelligently Kept, one
man who is the largest taxpayer or has
| the largest bank account. one school or
church maintained, one factory running
successfully, one truck garden prohtany
l H>0o-
| doctor, one sermon we'll preached, one
office we'll filled, one life cleanly lived,
| these will tell more in our favor than all
| the abstract eloquence that can be sum-
moned to plead our cause Our pathway
| must be up through the soil, up through
! swamps, up through forests, up through
| the streams, the rocks, up through COM
merce education and religion.
| I'm connection with our presence IN TINS
| country, it should always be borne IN
mind that, unlike other races, we not only
! were forced to come into this country
against our will, but were brought mere IN
as slaves and as freemen, we nave strlVen
to serve the interests of this country as
best we could. We have cleared forests
builded railways, tunneled mountains,
grown the cotton and the rice, and we
! have always stood ready to defend the flag.
| We have never disturbed the country by
| riots, strikes or lock-outs. Ours has been
! a peaceful, faithful service and life.
| I'm the face of all this cannot believe
| I will not believe, that country that IN
vites into it's midst every 1ype o OF G dre9
! of the earth, and gives these corners smell
| ter, protection and the highest encourage
ment, will refuse to accord the same pro- TO-.
! lection and, encouragement to her black
| citizens I repeat here what 1 have OFTEN
said in the South: The Negro seeks no
special privileges. All that he asks is OPP
made by the white man and applied to the
| one race be applied with equal certainty
and exactness to the other.
! And when l say this, repeat also tlla Ina.
| which I have said directly to the members
| of more than one state constitutional con
vention in the South--namely, that any
| revised state constitution that is capable
! of being twisted into one lnterpretatloH
when an ignorant white man is CONCERNED
and another when an ignorant black man
is concerned, will not represent entire
Justice nor the highest I 5tatHSm n1nsn
| premium upon good citizenship for botf
races, and wherever they fail to 90 TINS
they are weak and are not in accord WIFI
the best interests OF the stare t,o o,o ,,ve
when in any country tnere are laws
which are not respected, which are tram
pled under foot and made to mean one
thing when applied to one race ana an,
other thing i, when not 9py nustice
which in the end the nation must
pay the penalty, but there is harden
ing and sanping Of Of the the groWth
human beings, in kindness, justice; an
all the higher, purer and sWeeter tn mn
in life. No race can degrade announcer WIN
out degrading itself. No race can asslS
in lifting up another without itself being
broadened and made more Christ-ike
1--WE must not grow disappointed or de-
spondent because, forsooth, an that wa wa
hoped for thirty five years ago mas no
taken place just exactly as we Wlsn' o,
as had been planned. Mans way Is no
always Gods way. The ten command
ments and the golden rule were proc1 i u.
ed centuries ago. and yet with a an IT.
growth and strivings, the Anglo saxon
citing him as an example, mas not; th!i ~
YOU will agreee with me, reached the
| point where he is living up to tnem II
daily life. And yet, because. of this fail
ure no one has yet been bold enough &c
! propose that we should repeal the Ter
commandments and the golaen rue; h -,
must have a standard of perfectlon that Is
| immovable. Interchangeable, applicable &c
all races rich and DOR, black ana Wh1Ie,
towards which its people must coh'iiho'liS
strive. ..,.. ,oo+ o,,es+ions
| either social or national, with the shot
gun. the torch. and by lynchlngs, mas
| ppn S Of either race may be in doubt
| about some things connected with our
future. but of one thing feel perfectly
sure. and that is that Ignorance ana race
hatred are no solution for any problem on
earth. No one can ever lift up a race oy
| continually calling attention to it's weak
points. The Negro like other ' races e4s
best element, rather than by its weakest:
1T is hard to find those who can SO far
| control themselves as to discuss this SUP
ject with complete absence Oh pteJu nrnvc
ther, but just an ordinary human bemg:
| I deplore the spirit and the dlsposlt1on OF
any person who can extract seeming com com
| fort out of the habit of continually oven
ing upon the mistakes and weak polnts OF
n .1S Individual or race, without trying to
suggest ;re a. remedy for those mistakes and
weaknesses Anyone who is guilty OF 90
ing this lives among the briers, the tnorns,
the stubble and the stumps OF me: ne
who is not content with cold, captious,
n mnY criticism. but enters. with body
and soul into positive, progressive effort to
strengthen and make more uselul the is
most unfortunate of Gods creatures, Is
the individual who is living in green
groves and who is continually drinking IN