The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1905-11-02


wanted to get the baser elements TO
vote for them. And so a law was
passed which lays upon Berea the
extra burden and expense Of making
a separate provision for its colored
students
In connection with this persecution
a thousand lying reports are started
about the Institution, and il is neces
sary from time to time 10 show the
public exactly where Berea College
stands The following article has
just been prepared for the friends
and donors Of the College, and will
be Of special interest 10 all readers
Of The CITIZEN. WV. G.. FRosT.
THE SEoRo's CLAIM
There seems TO be just at the
present time a concerted effort on
the part oil a number OF writer's to
disparage and malign the character
OF the American Negro and rob
him of the sympathy and enoour-
agement which are due him as a
human being who is buheting with
adverse conditions.
Those who are familiar with the
history of Berea know that this
School was founded before the
civil war among anti-slavery South
erners-in fact, anti-slavery slave
holdersl Berea's FIRST contention
was for the rights of man. The
school was located in the mountains
because there free speech could be
maintained and the school protect
ed by the mountaineers, who were
not the poor whites" but indie
pendent people who owned land
and did not own slaves. For the
principle Of freedom Berea's found
ers suffered untold persecution, and
Berea celebrated the triumph Of
liberty by admitting colored stu
dents OF good moral character to
its class-rooms and chapel on the
same terms as other human beings
For forty years this liberal policy
bore good fruit, so that at this spot
there has been a demonstration Of
the practicability OF the ideal.
It does not of course follow that
colored people can be admitted to
white schools in all parts OF the
South. but Berea's experience must
stand for what it is worth. In the
Christian atmosphere of this place
the experiment was tried and
proved successful.
And il IS particularly interesting
to note that the mingling of the
races in school work and life re-
vealed no tendency towards inter
marriage, but the reverse. The
social integrity of each race was
maintained by its own members
with entire propriety.
IL has nevertheless happened
that the recrudescence of prejudice
in the South affects Berea so that
the political clique now controlling
Kentucky has passed a law inter
rupting this interesting experiment
of world wide fame. The hostile
Legislation intervenes and lays a
penalty upon the Institution and
upon every teacher and pupil in
case members of both races shall
be received in the future unless
in separate departments located
twenty-five miles apart.
We do not stop to characterize
this action; its authors will pass to
judgment before posterity and be
fore God. But it remains to us to
consider what Berea College must
do in the premises. First of all
we contest the constitutionality of
the law, and make this contention
not in behalf of the Negro in par
ticular but in behalf of the rights
of every man which are trampled
upon by legislative usurpation. We
cannot allow the so-called police
power of the state to interfere in
the rights of private schools and
private teachers. Our case will be
brought before the Court of APP
peals of Kentucky in the autumn
term by Hon. John G.. Carlisle of
New York, a native of Kentucky;
Hon. Curtis +. Burnam of Rich
mond, Ky. and Hon. Guy Ward
Mallon of Cincinnati.
But this legal contention does