Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1905-09-16
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON AND THE NEGRO RACE


| the direction named Is beyond the Wis
dom Of any one"
Yet on page G he says:
"The surest way for the negro TO
reach the highest positions Is TO pre-
pare himself to fill well at the present
the basic occupations"-Ind
Industries. Of course-for. mark you.
'Tuskegee Institute is not a servant
training SCHOOL,"
Again on pages SO and SIS we are
told: There Is an unmistakable In
fluence that comes over white man
when he sees black man living in a
two-story house that has been paid
for. need not stop to explain. Just in
SO far as we can place rich negroes In
the south who can loan money to white
men. this race question will disappear. "
Why?
The conclusion Is obvious: The ne
gro who holds a mortgage on white
mans house will ultimately demand
and receive social recognition from
him.
On page &C of his Future OF the
American Negro he says: THE Jew.
who was once In about the same posi-
ton as the negro Is today. has now
recognition because he has cntwined
himself about America in a business
and industrial way"
Again hie conclusion is obvious. The
nbsurdty OF the comparison. however.
Is the important point In this sentence.
not only for the pathetic ignorance Of
history II displays. but for the revela-
zion OF the writer's secret hopes and
dreams.
The Jew has not been assimllated
into our civil and social life because
OF his monoy-but for very different
reason The Jew belongs TO our race.
the same great division Of humanity
The Semitic group OF the white race
Is. all in all. the greatest evolved in
history. Their children have ever led
the vanguard Of human progress and
achievements. A great historian and
philosopher once said: "Show me a
man OF transcendent genius at any
period OF the worlds history and I'll
show Won man with Hebrew blood In
:iis veins Our prejudice against the
Jew is not because OF his inferiority.
but because Of his genius. We are
afraid of him, we Gentiles who meet
him in the arena OF life. get licked and
then make faces at him. The truth is
the Jew had achieved a noble civiliza-
tion-had his poets. prophets. priests
and kings--when our Germanic ances-
tors were still In the woods cracking
cocoanuts and hickorynuts with mon
keys. We have assimilated the Jew be-
cause his daughter Is beautiful and his
son strong In mind and body!
The Danger Of q Nation Within q
Nation.
The trouble with Mr.. Booker T.
Washington's work is that he is silent
ly preparing us for the future heaven
OF amalgamation-or he Is doing some-
thing equally dangerous. namely. he Is
attempting to build nation inside a
nation Of two hostile races. In this
event he is storing dynamite beneath
the pathway OF our children-the end
at last can only be In bloodshed.
Mr.. Washington Is not training ne
groes TO take their place In any indus
trial system Of the south In which the
white man can direct or control him.
He Is not training his students to be
servants and come at the beck and call
OF any man. He Is training them all to
be masters Of men. to be independent.
to own and operate their own indus
tries. plant their own fields. buy and
sell their own goods, and in every shape
and form destroy the last vestige OF
dependence on the white man for any
thing.
do not say this Is not laudable-I
do not say that II is not noble. I only
ask what will be its end for the negro
when the work Is perfect? Every pupil
who passes through Mr.. washington's
hand ceases forever to work under n
white man. Not only so. but he goes
forth trained as an evangelist to preach
the doctrine of separation and inde-
pendence.
The negro remains on this continent
for one reason only. The southern
white man has needed his labor. and
therefore has fought every suggestion
OF his removal. But when he refuses
longer to work for the white man. then
what?
Mr.. Booker T. Washington says on
page G5 OF his book: "The negro must
live for all time beside the southern
white man."
On what sort OF terms are they to
live together? As banker and borrower?
Hardly. II the negro Is the banker.
Even now. with the white man still
hugging the hoary delusion that he
can't get along without the negro. he Is
being forced TO look 10 the Old World
for his labor. The simple truth is. the
south will lag behind the world indus
trially In just so far as she depends on
negro labor The idea that white man
cannot work In the fields OF the south
is exploded. Only one-third OF the cot
ton crop Is today raised by negro labor
Even now the relations Of the races.