Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1905-03-10

compares 1t with the manly beauty Of our
own; then trampling it in the art. and
standing with his foot upon It's neck, calls
upon ii to instantly arise and prove ITS
fitness, or forever consent to srovel IN
the filth of slavery-this he does in the
heart of the north-and Il maudln people
applaud his spirit. l would ask this gen.
tieman, what is 1t you compare? YOU
point to the highest civilization the world
has yet produced, the product and pride
Of all ages, and compare 1t with the, civ
lllZation or an infant race. How old Is
the civilization of America? Oyer
three centuries Who fathered it? The
proudest blood, the sturdiest sinew, Of
Europe What sought they thus afar?
Freedom. Who now comprise it? Amer
leans. How old is the civilization of tho
black American? Forty years. Who fatn.
In chains. Who now comprise it? Ne
groes-debased, demoralized by over two
centuries Of slavery.
Praise, Not Blame.
In the light of these facts, my hand
would wither in the writing and my
tongue in the speaking, had to confess
that cur civilization was no further ad-
vanced than one conceived in injustice.
and thrown out 40 short years ago-a very
child-to battle with an unkind world. All
versed in the ways of the world, unused
to the powers of freedom, given thus sud-
denly the choice of good or evil. have SO
largely chosen the better part. Small
surrounded it's first taste of the sweet
cup of freedom. 1t drank too deeply or
that Intoxicating cup. Small wonder that
many have in the face of opposition and
injustice and prejudice failed to meas
ure up to the standards Of the average
white citizen. And though many In their
been crushed under their burden OF pas
sion and prejudice, and have gone aatray.
yet. l say 1t with head bowed in humll-
iation. and with the blush Of shame burn
ing cheek the hand that DlleA faR
gots around human being. the hand that
covers him with oil that he may burn the
of hefiish revenge. the hand that pros,
titutes the. very name of civilization and
brotherhood and even manhood-turn
hway your faces ys seeing nationsathss
the necessary inferiority of the negroes
are not all in. When their civilization
has been weighed in the balance for over
three centuries and found wanting; when
after two thousand years of Christ. they
outrage the name, not alone of civilization
but of God and humanity, planting the
hearts of their children, if then they. be
charged with the possession of an infer
ior manhood, they may well stand dumb
before. an indignant age, from whose
stern lips falls the verdict, Guilty! gull
ty! guilty.
There is that in an immortal soul which
dehes limitation ] come w with no theory
of every human being to the fullest de-
velopment possible of every God-given
power There are those who. looking into
cial giants shall stand face to face on
American soil and struggle for the mas
terry. Prompted by some such dread
fear. weak men would sacrifice princ-
pie and justice and continue to blur with
the marks of ignorance and degradation
the image Of the Almighty. stamped in
How mean philosophy! How. narrow
a policy! Close your eyes to II II you
will, rail against it as You will, call IL
mischance or call it Providence, the fact
race is indissolubly linked with the fu-
ture of the white. Their country Is our
county: their growth. our growth: their
sin, our sin: Weak, they limit us; diseas-
ed. they pollute us: degraded. they lower
us; virtuous, they ennoble US. Leave the
broader plane Of human rights, and jus
| ton of expediency. The negro race ex-
! lists today as the test and measure Of the
| moral strength of our, civilization. She
stands an orphan child be-
father nation to protest her; weak, ig-
norant, debased. yet feeling within her
self the nobler promptngs of a true wom-
anhood. she stands in the full light OF
American principles, in the sight of all the
nations, pleading for the right to
live, to strive. to hope. Let us then pur-
sue broad policy, one that, holding the
races as separate socially as the castles
if India, will still give this people every
opportunity for development. Let us seek
as our ideal: not The merging Of two
racial Identities: rather let us strive to
bring all that is truly negro into grand
harmony with all that is truly American.
Let US remain in all things purely racial
'as separate as the fingers and yet be
zone as the hand in all things purely
national.
When this new century shall have
passed away and another is born, may
1t not enter into heritage of some
thirty million degraded human beings,
into which some foe can reach his hand.
and, holding one up to the ridcule Of
the nations. say with the tongue Of
ecorn, Behold an American citizen!
Rather may 1t find a race uplifted. en-
nobled. into which our countrymen can
reach, and. pointing with one hand to
a savage. and with the other to an
American negro: say to the monarchies
of the Old World: Behold the power of
freedom and the triumph Of American
principles. Yesterday, we took from Af-
rica's shores savage; today, we hold
up to the view of all the nations a
black man without one vestige Of saw
aGery-a negro and an American!