Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1904-04-30

shall not have his choice whero he shall
sit in public conveyance But the
feeling exists, and in our opinion it is as
necessary as IL is natural. liz is one of
the safeguards against the breaking
down OF the barrier between the races
and the amalgamation and mixing,
which Is the worst horror Southern
white people can imagine aud would be
the worst disaster that could befal both
races in the country"
The intimation in the above DECLARE
ton Is as significant, from a white
mans standpoint as it is horrible. He
states plainly that the wsll-dressed,
well behaved, clean and Intelligent
Negro who is permitted to ride undis-
turbed as TO his place or seat in street.
car is liable to produce the amalgamat-
ion or mixing of the races. He there
fore intimates that in as much as the
consent of both parties is necessary In
such cases that this consent can be OBJ
tanned
The person who wrote this editorial
was evidently so permeated with race
prejudice that he was slow to observe
the reflection that he was casting upon
the females of his own race
White and colored people, male and
female have been travelling upon the
street-cars together for forty years. Has
this transient mountaineering led to
the amalgamation and mixing of the
races? If it has, name an instance. If
il has not, admit that this species of
mischievous demagogism is disgrace
TO modern journalism.
The public parks and thorough fares
are the places where the white men
entice the colored females to deeds of
evil and the houses of prostitution
known to the police authorities are the
places where the devilish bargains are
carried out. These then are the places
to be dealt with aud not the street cars
For our part, if the NEwS-LEADER is
really opposed to this mixing let it be-
gin the crusade against all places of
evil and it shall have our cordial sup
port;
The best thing and the only thing
make the best of it with good nature
and patience, for he is in the presence
of a race which he cannot fight or over
come, at the mercy of force so far
superior to his own that he cannot deal
with 1T by process Of law, by the in
tiuence of moral or political force, by
intellectual effort or by revolution. In
this special case, no injustice is done
him. The place assigned him in the
cars is as good as that given the whites :"
The white man and not the Negro is
the one who is making the trouble.
The Negro, as a rule, is blessed with
big feet and a determination to use
them. He is trying to avoid trouble
and is going his way in peace. He is
not intruding upon the white people of
this community, and recognizes a prin-
ciple which is above the so-called equal
ity of the privileges furnished. He is a
citizen and he objects to being singled
out from any other citizen. The
NEWS LEADER continues:
"All he is asked to do is TO keep to
himself and allow the white people to
do the same, so that intimate contact
between the races shall be avoi led as
far as possible"
This is too what he is asking of you
white people. An IAN army" of your
white men are constantly on picket
duty in our localities making them
selves familiar and worrying" some
of our blacklist girls ito DEATH The
result is very embarrassing for several
of our colored people are as mad as
hornets" because they have been forced
to ride with white people, the conduct.
ors insisting even in the face of their
protests that they are'white, when they
know they are colored.
If you will authorize the colored men
to arrest and land in Jail all of the
white men who refuse to sit by a Negro
on street-car in the day time and stay
as close as they can get with the black
est of Negroes in the nigh t. time, we
will assure you that the true method of
preventing this amalgamation and mix
ing has been found.
The writer then concludes his article
as follows:
"The wise course for the colored peo-
pie is TO accept development as they
come, but to keep in their minds that
the only hope for the peace and comfort
of both races is that they shall be sep
arated finally, not by the distance be-
tween one seat in street-car and an
other, but by miles of territory or
ocean, so that the Negro may establish
"a civilization and government of his
own and a country III which he shall
stand on his merits and be equal with
all the other people there"
Such peace and comfort will never
come. On the contrary, in few years,
these same Negroes will note with
pleasure the movement of your funeral
procession towards the tomb, where all
race prejudice and unreasoning argu-
ment is forgotten and where at the
close of ten thousand year day, the
color is shown only by the tormenting
flames of the DeyiI and the nnnisbp,ant