Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1905-02-22
DirrIouLrY OF NEGRO pRoBLrM.

DIFFICULTY OF NEGRO PROBLEM.
"Most certainly all clear sighted and
generous men in the North appreciate the
difficulty and perplexity of this problem,
sympathize with the South in the en-
barrassment of conditions for which she
is not alone responsible, feel an honest
wish TO help her where help is practica-
Bile, aud have the beartiest respect for
those brave and earnest men of the South
who. in the face of fearful difficulties,
are doing all that men eau do for the bet
terment alike of white and of black. The
attitude of the North toward the negro
7 Is far from what it should be and there is
need that the North also should act in
good faith upon the principle of giving
| each man what is justly due him, of
treating him on his worth as man,
grant thug him no special favors, but deny
ing him no proper opportunity for labor
and the reward of labor. But the Pc
culiar circumstances of the South render
the problem there far greater and far
more acute.
JUSTICE FOR ALL MEN.
Neither nor any other man can say
that any given way of approaching that
problem will present in our time even an
approximately perfect solution, but we
can safely say that there can never be
such solution at all unless we approach
it with the effort to do fair and equal JUS
tice among all men, and to demand from
them in return just and fair treatment
fnr Mt nns off oh In 70
cure to each man, whatsoever his color,
equality of opportunity, equality of treat
mont before the law. AS people striv-
ing to shape our actions in accordance
with the great law of righteousness we
cannot afford to take part in or be indif-
ferent to the oppression or maltreatment
of any man who, against crushing dis
advantages, has by his own industry,
energy, seif-respect and perseverance
struggled upward to position which
would entitle him to the respect of his
follows, if only his skin were of differ
ent hue.
MUST HELP ALL MEN UP.
Every generous impulse in us revolts
at the thought of thrusting down in
stead Of helping up such man. To
deny any man the fair treatment granted
to others no better than he is to commit
wrong upon him-a wrong sure to re-
act in the long run upon those guilty of
such denial. The only safe principle
upon which Americans can act is that of
all men up not that of some men
down. If in any community the level of
intelligence, morality and thrift among
the colored men can be raised, it is, hui
manly speaking, sure that the same level
among the whites will be raised to an
even higher degree; and it is no less
sure that the debasement of the blacks |
will in the end carry with it an attendant
debasement of the whites.
THE PROBLEM STATED.
"rhe problem is so to adjust the rela-
tions between two races of different
ethnic type that the rights of neither be
abridged nor jeopardized; that the back
ward race be trained so that it may enter
into the possession of true freedom,
while the forward race is enabled to pre-
serve unharmed the high civilization
wrought out by it's forefathers. The
working out of this problem must neces-
sarily be slow; it is not possible in off |
hand fashion to obtain or to confer the
priceless boons of freedom, industrial
efficiency, political capacity and domes-
tic morality. Nor is it only necessary to
train tho colored man; it is quite as
necessary to train the white man, for on
his shoulders rests well nigh unparal- |
leled sociological responsibility. 1t is a
problem demanding the best thought, |
the utmost patience, the most earnest
effort, the broadcast charity, of the states
man, the student, tho philanthropist; of
the leaders of thought in every depart
ment of our national life. The church
can be a most important factor in solving
it Alright. But above all else we need for
it's succ essful solution, the sober, kindly,
steadfast, unself1h performance of duty
by the average plain citizen in his every
day dealings with his fellows.
NEGRO MUST HELP HIMSELF.
"In the first place, it is true of the
colored man, as it is true of the white
man, that in the long run his fate must
depend far more upon his own effort than
upon the efforts of any outside friend.
Every vicious, venal, or ignorant cOlored
man is an even greater foe to his own
race than to the community as whole.
The colored mans self-respect entities
him to do that share in the political
work of the country which is warranted
by his individual ability and integrity
and the position he has won for himself.
But the prime requisite of the race is
moral and industrial uplifting.
NEGRO MUST ABHoR CRIME.