The Washington bee., 1907-01-12
BOYS, REFORM School

DfSI = H4~E DEE-4 >bE1DDs-.
The Indifference Of the coIored cit
izens Of this community towards mat
ters that should be their highest con
ceru IS rather marked The manage
ment Of institutions IN which persons
Of color are likely 10 be inmates. en-
cages too little Of or attention. Es-
perially should we have the deepest
interest IN and exercise the strictesr
vigilance over institutions having the
care and custody ri colored youth.
}Fe have IN this District q Reform
School for boys. We are advised
that the average enrolment shows
about three hundred coiored boys and
about seventy or eighty white boys.
The Board OF Trustees consists 0f
seven members. There are two su-
periHteudents. several teachers and
numerous other employees who are
al paid out Of The public treasury, ,
and strange % say there Is nOt q SIN
gle cOlored trustee nor q single col
ored person carried on the pay roll.
nor IS any cOlored person in any way
connected with It's management. The
trustees are all white; the two super
intcndeHrs are white, the several
teachers arc white the officers hav-
ing charge Of the boys are a. white;
the baker the cooks, the laundry en-
uro..@ees, the gardener, the stabiemeh,
the men in the shops. and the wagon
drivers are all white The private
cook 20 the superintendent (who Is
not carried on the pay roll and is
from Virginia. is the only colored
person at the farm who IS not pris-
oner. This situation is absolutely un-
fair 70 US. Not even > colored minis
ter 70 conduct religious exercises on
Sunday. We respectfully insist that
this state Of affairs should be chang
ed.
This being the situation the color
line IS distinctly drawn In every par
ticular. The white boys are sepaTat-
ed from the colored at school, at
meals. in the dormitory where they
sleeD and at church service, thus con
stantly reminding the little Negro
bov that he is not as good as the white
boy. and thus he is brought up. They
even have separate visiting days Tor
white and colored parents 50 that the
TWO races will not be brought togeth-
er at this institution.
The white boys attend school in the
forenoon, the colored boys in the al
ternoon. thus avoiding a mixed school
in the forenoon, but they are satisfied
10 have a mixed school in the after
noon by having a white teacher IN
the colored school. We have a NUM-
Der Of normal graduates who are
waiting for schools and should be at
this institution teaching the colored
boys.
We are also advised that attend
ance upon school is very irregular and
depends upon the amount Of work to
be done on the farm and in the shops
The education OF the boy Is second
ary. so that a boy who is sent 10 TIN.
school for his failure to attend the
public schools does not have his con
dition improved
We are also advised that infrac
tions Of the rules are often punished
bv castigation with a rubber hose an'
we have It from one colored boy tha
ne was slapped to the ground by al
officer and while down he was kcke'
in the side
We do not hold every person con
nected with the institution responsi
bic for these complaints and we hay
the highest regard for Messrs. Porte
and Mcneil. Our purpose IS to show
the necessity of according US repre-
sentation on the farm and IN the man
aoement OF the institution. The re
form school is a very necessary lnst-
tuition. but the days of jails and penal
institutions for children are over, and