The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-07-26
tom Watson's Magazine.

pehding, in all cases, conslueraolJ
upon the man behind the figures.
This time the man behind the fig
Ires is Doctor Booker Washington
may his shadow never grow LEST!
In the course of recent lecture
the learned Doctor laid down the prop
osition that the black man is superior
to the white, and he'proved it-proved
it by statistics.
He said that there is IS per cent OF
'illiteracy among the Spaniards, while
there is only "a per cent of lillteracy
among the negroes are clearly more
advanced in civilization than the
Spaniards.
Poor old Spain!
The learned doctor further demon
strated that there is 65 per cent OF
illiteracy among the Italian; therefore
the negroes are far ahead OF Italy.
Russian illteracy being 20 per cent
the black man takes precedence OF The
of the land of Peter the Great, Shobe-
lef. Gorky, Turgenefand Tolstoy.
South America, having an illiteracy
of so per cent, falls far to the rear OF
the NJ gro and Castro must add add
tiOnal kick to the many he has already
received from North America
Proud of his statistics, Doctor Book
er Washington exc aims: "The negro
race has developed more rapidly in
the thirty years Of its freedom than
the Latin race has in one thousand
years of freedom,
That's bold statement, doctor.
TO ray nothing of its accuracy, may
it not have been an unwise thing for
you to claim that the black man has
risen during thirty years more rapid
ly in the scale of civilization than the
whites have risen in thousand?
True you confine yourself to the
Italians, the Span ards, the Russians
and the South Americans, but when
you sly the darkest of all the colored
races is superior 10 that great section
of the white race named by you, does
it not occur to you that may, does ii
not occur to you that you may create
feeling of resentment among all the
whites?
You have thousands of true friends
throughout the entire Countrywide
men who have most generously help
ed you in your your work, helped you
with money, with moral support and
with certain amount of social recog-
milton. Your admirers refer to you as
great man. They allude to your
work. The south helps you with do
nations. We want 10 see you succeed
in building up your race.
But have you single white friend
who will indorse your statement that
the black race is so superior 10 The
whites that it can do in one genera
ton what it required the whites a
thousand years 10 do?
Do you imagine that your friends,
President Roosevelt. Mr.. Carnegie,
DR.. Hart, Bishop Potter, and others.
will like you better when they hear
you putting forth claim to race su-
perorioty? Doctor, you have overshot
lbe mark.
Whenever the north wakes up 10
the fact that you are teaching tine
blacks that they are superior to the
whites, you are going to feel the east
wind. .
What do you mean by racial devel-
opment, doctor?
Apparently your standard of meas.
urement is illIteracy. That is TO say,
ifa greater number of negroes than OF
Spaniards can read, then the negro
has achieved a higher plane i'll civil
iZation.
Is that J our idea? Does the ability
read constitute race develoyemenH
According to that, Lnilllon uegrc
children attend school twelve months
and becom "civilized" because they
have learned to spell Baker" and IL
read "Mary had little lamb"
Does it not strike you, doctor, that
such measure might he delusive?
In making up your tables of litter
acy, why diden'L you include all the
negroes. as yon included all the 1tal
ians, all the Spaniards, all the Rus
slams?
Why leave out your home folks in
Africa, doctor?
Why omit Santo Domingo and Haiti:
If YOU will number all the negroes
doctor, your percentage of illiteracy
among the blacks may run up among
the nineties, and knock your calcula
tion into cooked hat.
In the West Indies God poured Hi:
blessings with hand upon the island
of ofHaili. The French went there ant
. built up a civilization. The levolu
ton OF 1889 freed the negroes wht
were held in slavery by the whites
and civil war soon followed.
The blacks outnumbered the white
and the climate was their ally. Vel
low fever did for them what tlost di'
for the Russians when Napoleon
struck at their liberties. They achiev
ed freedom, and they have had it
not for Thirty years, but for hun
ored years.
What have your people done wit
their freedom in Santo Domingo, Doc
tor? Back, back into ban albarism, voc
dOoism, human sacrifice, social an
political anarchy they have plInetc
and their history is one long blocC
stained record of bsckslidiDg frtI
the standard which the French ha
already established. Even now you
black bIetleln in Santo Dc miLgo al
eseeching The white man Cf III
United States to do that which the
n1e unable to dt-adninister natioLs
aftails. In selldeiense this go, OIL
Nh nj may have 10 treat Santo DOnlr
20 as Great Britain tleats Santo Dc
miuyo as Great Britain tleats J&maIcs
botb gostl mtnts actil e up,n III
demonstrated fact that he black!
lett to themselves, ale incapable OF Sc
government aid iSce devtlolt nent.
But before entt iii z into C mIsli
On of facial pIcgIess, Doctor, il Is j
order 10 nolr the fact that you accred
The Deglo with only Thirty years
freedom. Why, Doctor, the negl