Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-08
RACE RIOTS TIE THEME
SERMON BY PASTOR OF LOCAL
CoLoRED CHURCH.
Rev. Francis J. Grimke Discusses Re
cent Events in Atlanta-Advice
to His Race.

| the recent race riots at Atlanta in his morn
| ing sermon yesterday. Rev. Francis ].
! Grimke pastor of the Fifteenth Street Pres
| byterian Church (colored) advises the men,
| bers of the colored race in the south to be
| industrious. to be discreet and to be pre-
pared to defend themselves against the
brute force of mobs. AS the announcement
| of the subject for this sermon was made the
Sunday previous, many of the most promi-
| nent colored residents of the city were In
the congregation which crowded the church
yesterday morning. Many words of COM
mendaton and approval of the sentiments
| advanced were heard through the audi
| ence.
| Mr.. Grmke took verses 24-26 of the
| eleventh chapter of II Corinthians as his
| text. in which Paul tells of the perils with
| which he was beset in his travels And
what was true of Paul in those days is true
of the colOred race today in the south, ne
| declared. Members of the race. he said,
are liable to be shot down. brutally muir
| dered, at any time The most Industrious,
| the most intelligent of the colored race. he
| thought. were often in greater danger than
| the lawless or the indolent, for two reasons.
First he said. it is the result of envy,
| born Of hatred, for it hurts certain class
| to see the negro prospecting; and, secondly,
because the intelligent and progressive ne
gro gives the lie to their theory Of the ne
gro'S inferiority."
1TOSTeSS OIL Lu0 odCS.
After declaring that the negro race was
making progress along many lines. the
speaker declared that in spite of this there
Is not a colored man in the south who is
not in daily peril 1--WE have just had an
exhibition, a most shocking exhibition, of
the constant peril in which this race Is
forced to live. in the unprovoked. brutal and
dastardly assaults that were made upon
colored men in Atlanta Ga.-assaults not
upon the guilty, not upon the criminal
classes, but upon negroes Unfortunately,
he continued. The country was Mortified.
and yet what took place in Atlanta may
take place in any southern city at any time.
The spirit that pervaded Atlanta-the muir
derous, bloodthrsty, negotiating Spirits
the spirit that pervades the entire south; 1t
needs only the occasion to cal 1t forth.
Now, I know what will be said: The
negro has brought all this on himself. 1t is
lie, Several assaults, it is alleged, were
made on white women by negroes, four or
five in one week. In what sense were the
colored people of Atlanta responsible for
those assaults? Were they parties to them?
Did they know the assailants? Did they
give aid and succor to the assailants? No
The negroes of Atlanta, as class, had no
more responsibility for those assaults than
the whites, class, had The fact that
the assailants were black furnished no JUS
LITIGATION or excuse for assaulting the other
members of the race, who had nothing to
do with them and no knowledge of them
hind which to hide their hatred for all ne
groes. According to their own statement
the probabilitic are that of all those who
were brutally murdered not one guilty
person suffered.
Where Blame Rests.
Continuing, he declared that he does not
blame the white man for resenting the as
sauts on the white woman; but he does
blame them for three things: First he
bames the white men because their con-
Germ is only for the protection of white
women, while they care nothing about the
protection of black women; secondly, he
blames them for taking the law into their
own hands, and, thirdly, for not discrimi-
mating between those who committed the
assaults and those who did not. There is
a growing tendency, he said, among white
men to blame the negro race because of its
criminal class. Because there colored
criminals, he declares, is no reason why all
negroes should be classed and treated as
criminals. He asked that the laval iding
negro be treated as such.
In concluding, Mr.. Grimke gave some adj
vice for the colored residents of the south.
He summed it up in the following words:
Continue to do your utmost to develop
yourselves along all lines-material, intel
lectual, moral. spiritual. Be discreet be
cautious, be very careful of what you say
or do. Keep the peace; do all you to
preserve it; but at the same time be pre-
pared to defend yourselves, if necessary
Duty of the Negro.
In regard to the last piece of advice, he
said, using the recent Atlanta riots as an
example: 1.-The duty of the negro is to
make it as perilous possible for the mob.
When the mob understands, and under
stands from actual experience, that there
are blows to take as well blows to give.
1t won't be so quick to organize. The only
thing which these towards respect, who
organize mobs is force, brute force; the
only thing which makes them think twice
before acting is the fear Of being injured.
There is but one way to deal with a mob,
and that is to shoot it to death, to riddle
it with bullets or dynamite it; and the
negro will be doing himself and the whole
south a service by being prepared to make
it as perlous possible for the mob.
Anacostia and Vicinity.