The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-10-23

to do full justice TO John Temple
Graves. VIII proposes to segregate and
COLOMBO the negro. 1 am a northern
man, and my viewpoint might have
been Ike your own had I remained a
i thousand miles removed from the
south. \ residence OF twenty-seven
years. however, in the ''black belt,
where the negroes far outnumber tie
whites, has gwen me exceptional OPP
p~ortunities for studying the race
question, which is also a caste prob
lem most imperfectly understood.
Mr.. Graves proposed solution. TO
hove the negro to some more con-
4enial cline. does not necessarily
mean the Philippines or Liberia, nor
does it mean wholesale deportation OF
the race in our lifetime. as most OF
his critics assert. Separation of the
races for the highest development and
happiness of both is the dominant idea
of his scheme. Omitting the economic
use of the negro. in the scantily sup
piled labor OF the south. and judging
from the moral side of life wholly, 10
thinking man could truthfully fail to
agree with the school of John Temple
Graves, that the separation OF the
races would advance the ethical Condl-
tions Of the white race.
Scholarly people, like the editor Of
The Times fail to understand this
caste problem from the point of View
OF the poor whites" of the south.
These are labOrers in full. unrestrIIt-
ed competition with the lOw-caste ne
grOes. Every hours work performed
by Il white carpenter, mason, miner, or
mechanic. is paid according to the
nOr na-T+rnr ayiStfnp in the local laFOr
market The white worker OF the
south. desiring better homes, more
varied food. educational advantages
for their children, must compete with
men satisfied with cabins. filth. rags
n ~cOrnbread. The negro in the
southern states. and the Indian across
the border IN Mexico. can supply all
his inherited cravings for half the
wages of a civilized white man.
What complexities the case of the
negro is that the amount of the me-
chanic's wages when paid to him tends
to lower his morality. The political
economists have not treated this side
of the question of wages. Philanthro-
pists declare the lOw-caste laboring
people Of English India. Mexico and
2Ehe United States are all underpald
10y the dominant race. They do not
remember that work without wages,
1. e., slavery, is the first step of the
barbarian toward civilization. An in
creasing wage equaliZed to his moral
development is doubtless the ideal
condition for furthering ethical culture
in the barbarian Of any race.
Liberal thinker resident north of
Mason and DiXon's line look to eduCa-
ton and more universal schooling as
the one thing needful to elevate the
negro. Do they know a school
taught by negroes instills into the
formative minds of the cOlOred chill
dren?Do they realize that the fr!c'
ton between the races probably starts
in this SchOOlrOOm? Young negroes in
the south now are evidently trained
to regard the white race as enemies,
not as friends. There appears to be
no nndeaVOr to teach these cOlOred
children respect for the aged or for
superIors. and no emulation for So
cial position founded on morals. The
money Of the state spent for eduCa-
ton should also carry an obligation to
teach civic duties to all children,
white and black. In case of the col
Ored schools the appearance goes far
to justify a belief that the altruistiC
money of the white people is spent in
teaching colOred children anarch1sm.
Affection does now exist. and has al
VIZ existed. between the cultivated
whites and the uneducated blacks of
the south. Between these is no cOmpe-
titiOn whatever. but the caste line
IS recognized by both parties as strict
Iy as the division between the Brah-
mans and Sudras in India. Hence
caste instinct instead of being an evil
as generally taught, is a blessing TO
both high and low. If the primitive
doctrine OF caste were to be religious
ly observed there would cease to be
kIny race problem. \ caste instinct
Vdiyides the white people of the north
by minor differences into many
groups; but the great gulf between
the high and low caste in the south
1HIS4,--+-- Ill --,n1 1-1ri1+i0,r 81
property. profession. or calling; divid-
ing society practically into two castles
with an Interchangeable division of c0l-
or between them. half breeds taking
the caste Of the mother.
Prosperous negro mechanics trained
in slavery are always respected by
their white neighbOrs south. Their
children. educated in modern negro
schools, ! nave yet to find as indus
triOUS, as useful. or as worthy as their
fathers. 1t would be true to say of
my section not Il cOlOred pupil of an
Industrial school. boy or girl, is Now
following any trade or domestic SER
vice for which he or she was supposed
to be trained. The industrial schools
do turn out preachers and teachers
and thus may make the statistics they
publish good by calling these preach
ers and teachers" foIlowers of the pro-
fessions for which they were trained,
but industrial training does not in
white schools include "~preaching and
teaching. The negro schools of the
south. however, are already beneficial
IN an unexpected way not intended Ky
the northern philanthrOpist. Educated
() negroes are neither farm labOrers
mo- domestic servants. nor do they
fOllOw mechanical trades. Hem they
seek employment as porters and mail
clerks on railroads all over the vast
territory of the United States. While
the most expensive hotels of the north
ern and eastern cities have discarded
the black servants they formerly en-
ployed. rs have the wealthy class Of
residents in those cities. the cheaper
hotels and of the west