The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1903-06-20
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South, or the nal1On, uoeS tAI1S ~ D.,
increasingly and firmly oppose tnsm: by by
every civilized and peaceful lnetnoo W.
ct strive for the rights which the Woitu
accords to men, clinging unwaverhels ~
those great words which the sons or the
fathers would fam forget: we no III u1e sn
are created equal; that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain inalienable
rights; that among these are LIE, hoerty'
and the purs ait Of happiness
The writer is intensely in earnest, po-
etc, eloquent, passionate and sincere IN
his appeal to the prejudice bound people
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 T. Washington. Mr..
Washington's teachings have evidently
been misunderstood by the learned pro.
fessor and he does the great advocate: of
industrial education great injustice.
There is no contradiction between the
Washington theories and the words OF the
cultured advocate OF higher education:
The adoption of industrialism does not
mean the abandonment of any constitu-
tional rights. Nowhere in his writings or
his speeches has Mr.. Washington advised
ever advised them to hold on to every one
now accorded and by the practice of in
dustry and thrift to secure a firm possess
sion of all now enjoyed and the acknowl-
edgment of those denied, which the &C
uuisition of wealth will surely give.
Let Washington speak for himself. In
one of his latest public utterances, an
address delivered before the Brooklyn IN
things he said:
1.-The Negro has lived for over two cen
turtles in the midst Of the people who,
and in school, in legislative halls and on
many a battlefield, have been constantly
upholding the doctrine that the most com
can come only through his being permit
ted to exercise the most complete freedom
compatible with the freedom or others.
Under these conditions the negro Shsc u nat at
being a belief that if freedom is good Tor
one race, it is equally helpful and neces-
sary to the we'll being of others. 1t is i'm
possible that the imprisoned pea OF Fa at
DEATH should have had no influence upon
our black citizens If the black man dld
not have in him that which spurred him
toward the acquiring Of those qualities
which you consider most essential, neither
the white man at the North nor the white
man at the South would have any respect
! for him or confidence in his future
entity. through summer and winter sun
shine and shadow, by self -sacnhce' py
| foresight by honesty and industry, we
| must re-enforce argument with results.
One farm bought, one house built, one
home sweetly and intelligently kept, one
man who is the largest taxpayer or mas
| the largest bank account, one school or
|
| successfully, one truck garden pro6tably
cultivated, one patient cured by a Negro
doctor, one sermon we'll preached, one
| office we'll filed one life Clearly 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 this
| country, it should always be borne IN
mind that unlike other races, we not oniy
against our will, but were broug mt mere IN
| the face of our most earnest protest. Both
as slaves and as freemens we have s til en-
best we could. We have cleared forests,
| builded railways, tunneled mountains,
grown the cotton and the rice, ana we
have always stood ready to defend the nag:
| 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 belleYe
| vites into it's midst every type of Euro
| pean, from the highest to the very dregs
| of the earth, and gives these corners shell
| ter protection and the highest encourage
lection and encouragement to her black
citizens. I repeat here what have, often
| said in the South: The Negro seeks no
special privileges All that ne asks S1i is OPP
made by the white man and applied to the
one race be applied with equal certainty
and exactness to the other.
land when say this, I repeat also that
which 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 interpretation
when an ignorant white man is concerned
and another when an ignorant black man
| is concerned, WILL not represent entire
| Justice nor the highest. statesmanshlp.
| These new constitutions SHOULD place d
premium upon good citizenship for both
races, and wherever they fail to 90 TINS
| they are weak and are not in accord Win
| the best interests of the state
when in any country there are laws
| which are not respected, which are tram
pied under foot and made to mean one
thing when applied to one race ana an
race, there is not only injustice for
| which in the end the nation must
pay the penalty, but there is harden
ing and bunting Of the the epoWfh Of
human beings, in kindness, justice, and
all the higher, purer and sweeter Things
| in life. No race can degrade another with.
out degrading itself. NO race can asslst
broadened and made more Christ-llke.
| 1--WE must not grow disappointed or de-
spondent because, forsooth, an that was
hoped for thirtyve years ago m mas nor or
as had been planned. Mans way is MOI
always Gods way. The ten command
ments and the golden rule were proclaim
ed centuries ago.. and yet with an It's
growth and strivings, the Anglo Saxon,
| citing him as an example, has not, think
you will agreee with me, reached tne
point where he is living up to them IN
daily life. And yet, because, of this fall
ure no one has yet been bold enough TO
propose that we should repeal the ten
commandments and the golden rule Ev-
must mi ' have standard Of perfection that is
| immovable, Interchangeable; appllcaole 70
| all races, rich and DOR, black and white,
| towards which it's people must continually
strive ++,;,,o, oro.+ o,estions
either social or national, with the shot
gun, the torch, and by ilynchlngs, mas
passed, An appeal to such methods Is
unworthy of either race. I may be in doube
about some things connected with cur
future. but of one thing I feel perfectly
sure. and that is that ignorance and race
hatred are no solution for any problem on
continually calling attention to it's weak
points. The Negro, like other races,
should be judged in a large degree by IT'S
best element. rather than ny lts WeakeS s.
1T is hard to find those who can so far
control themselves as tt" discuss this SUD
ject with complete absence OF prejudice.
In most cases there is an effort to prove
the Negro a devil or an angel lie IS nel-
Their but just an ordinary human being:
L deplore the spirit and the disposition of
any person who can extract seeming com
fort out of the habit of continually dwell
ing upon the mistakes and weak points of
any, individual or race, without trying to
suggest a remedy for those mistakes and
weaknesses. Anyone who is guilty OF 40
ing this lives among the briers, the thorns
the stubble and the stumps of life: He
who is not content with cold, captious
negative criticism. but enters with pody
and soul into positive, progressive enort 70
strengthen and make more useful the
most unfortunate of Gods creatures, fs
the individual who is living in green
Growers and who is continually drinking in