Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1905-03-10
CORNELL WINS IN
CRATCRlCAL CONTEST
THE WINNING GRAFTON.
Awarded First Place BY Judges at Nj.
Vernon Contest

The most unique and tragic figure in
history Is the American negro. No other
race has plunged so deeply In despair,
or been exalted to such heights Of hope;
no other race has viewed so black
night, or been dazzled by such flash
of promise: no other race has grasped
So eagerly the prize. to see its substance
turn to ashes. THE bright ideals or the
Dast-physical freedom, political power
both these in turn have waxed and
waned, until even the last grows dim
and overcast Thus has ended tho
negro's dream OF freedom. Yet It was
not dreamed in vain: 1t served to iighten
the task Of the tired slave ana d,d 10 pptms nrs
than that; it gave place to dogged de.
termination. based upon knowledge o,
reality, to somehow. somewhere, ma
ions Of the pasta background darRened
by slavery; a foreground clouded by
prejudice; in the center, weary people.
struggling on, their gaze fixed lar IN
the future A path that Is dim; way
that is steep and stony. But over az
lighting up the dusky faces OF the plod-
ders, darting its rays here and there
through the clouded foreground-siiVe
future-Hope shines like the sun. And
through it all. the mystery Of struggle,
inspiring, uplifting. ennobling;
Why has the negro failed so 1niser.
ably IN lnG TcallZdliOll VI 'ii9 i'NoiN
What is the nature of the force that
binds him still to the lot of an inferior?
1t is the gulf between the raceS-the Two
fold difference Of race and culture me
marks of Caucasian progress, still stretch
before the negro, a vast, uneXplored Will
derness. Through two centuries or pond
age the negro learned to regard slavery
as the source of all his woes, freedom
as the fount of perfect joy. Emancipation
came at last-,in a holocaust of blood ana
war. since then forty years have passed
the dream of freedom Is still dream,
and the negro rests nndef tne 1e,st shaaoW ,,1e
between the races. emancipation could
not bridge: the ballot could not span its
yawnng depths. Standing on it's verge.
striving with longing eyes to pierce ITS
mysteries, is a man. AS he looks and
wonders he has a strange Vlslon-a cloud
of doubt rises before him, and in it he
sees his own soul, "darlly. as through
veil" and in THAT soul he sees reHected
a faint revelation of inborn power. of a
mission all it's own. Suddenly, round
about him shines radiance Of rare glory.
Under it's rays doubt vanishes and the
innermost. recesses Of that g gull snow snow
under the inspiration of great concep-
ton. He can never cross that gulf. he
can never be white, but ne can he hlm-
self. And so in halt-a W?hchea con
threshold of self-realization. The negro
for the first time sees and knows him
self. and so comes the third ideal that
has possessed the negro race: educatlon
--culture Of hand. intellect and soul
The Logical Outcome.
The racial strife of today is the logical
out come of present day conditions Two
different peoples Of varying degrees or
culture are seeking to progress under the
same institutions. The government, laws
and educational system of people and
their social and industrial organization
are the result Of growth; an evolution
with the development of nation; and
to be suited to a people. they must be
an expression Of the particular stage or
civilization attained by. that people. Ian
posts In the evolution of a race. telling
how far 1t has advanced and pointing
the way onward and upward: And tor
nation to ignore this evident truth.
the plane of civilization occupied by it.
self in a day, or a year. or century
Is to ignore the teachings of experience
and to fly in the face of law. Liberty is
product of character, and character IS
gem which holds in the mysterious
beauty of crystallization all the good;
the noble. and the true that has enriched
San savage, cast him for over two CEN
turies in the mold Of slavery. and then.
In q day. implant within his bosom that
transcendant brilliancy, those radiant
hues that can only shine forth from
, nature cut, ground, and polished IN Goa
| work shop of the ages. Shall we then de-
! spair because many have failed to grasp
the new conditions of their suddenly
changed environment, and have deterlo-
| rated? Already the leaders have seized
the issues, and out Of the gigantic strus-
! gle for race existence emerge the names
/ of Dubois, Council. Hoffman. Morris. Ly-
! ons. Dunbar, Booker Washington and
| host of others-names that stand for
! ability, industry and worth-and the bet
| ter element Is already building the foun-
: dation for new, fit. enduring negro
race, and even now the listening ear car,
catch the changing of their hammers and
tie buZZing of their saws echoed PACK
from the walls of Tuskegee, Howard At
D. lama and a hundred similar institutions
and the feeling soul may count the. heart
beats as they throb their hope and yearn-
ing to the One Kind Tender Heart above
| which answers throb for throb for every
! pain and every striving Of the human
| breast Oh, the negro Is human; he i
i human in that divine element or yearn
ing for something better which separates
him from the beast, and links his heart
of desire to the great, overrul1ng Heart
son Of the south. United State:
senator, holds up the shrinking. form o.
negro civlization-"more sinned agains
than sinning"-and In spirit OF derisior