The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1907-02-14
The Jim Crow Recrudesccnce

persons OF African blood when pas
senSerS on steam railway cars. The
exclusion at present Is not to extend
to street railway cars, but the bill
is evidently an entering wedge, ex.t
enough in itself, but only a start
in prescribing, humiliating and dis
franchisng race. For q generation
Negroes have been riding on steam
cars in Missouri as provided for the
public generally. and the, question
OF rights In the case was supposed to-
have been as definitely settled as
Ithat of slavery, No right-minded
railway passen sers seeks to be often
ls8Ye DR. obtrusiWeS to fellow-passen-
gaFs. "A company OF this nature Is
mainly composed of strangers to
each other, and conduct themselves
With the due restraints of proprlety
and courtesy. There is no complaint
that the Negroes Of Missouri have
failed to observe the rules OF deport-
ment that frame themselves under
such circumstances. Nevertheless,
the majority in the Missouri senate
has voted to place Negroes in des-
ignated separate part OF car, to be
divided from the rest by at least
bar, or perhaps cord would suffice.
The nature of the barrier mark Is
immaterial 1t Is the inferior CLASH
fication, rendered distinct and insist
ed on as visible sign, that forms
the animus of the bill. Its purpose
is to put stigma on one race, re-
gardeSs of the fact that ut is OF
American citizenship and birth.
Consignlng an American citizen,
NO matter how humble, to a deliber-
ately provided inferior compartment,
hot &c no n
Mace to which he will be admitted
is manifestly a lowering of the
standard of all American citizen
ship and a blot on the term. Are
Cinnamon, poems and some other
aliens a superior class? A limbo for
certain American citizens on account
of their complexion is not an In
spring sight. The passenger car
pen is step backward toward the
Old slave pen, and rests precisely on
the same moral and political basis,
jim Grow. cars originated. in ,-~ thaj
gun states, where the Negro -popufaes'
,tion is dense and far less intelligent
than in Missouri To the Missouri
Negro the Jim Crow pen would be
a strange and most painful innoVa-
ton It would take away from him
a privilege to which he has been &C
customed since slavery was abolish
ed Even before emancipation free
Missouri Negro was not committed
TO" q special car pen. He paid his
fare In full the same as others, and
found for himself place where he
could sit Or stand without offense
to Others. How many men who read
these, words would be willing to en-
ter such special compartment,
/haughters to be set apart with In
feriority proclaimed and accepted?
There are railroads around MlSsOu-
ri as we'll as through 1t, and other
means of transportation than any
that can be identified with the car
pen approved by the Missouri senate.
A man of spirit would walk rather
than, on compulsion, take a seat In
such corner Of cOmplaisant degra-
lldatiOn.
Only one Missourian In twenty Is
Of African blood. The proportion OF
Negro steam railway passengers In
this state is not over one IN fifty.
The senate bill was not inspired by
any emergency or incident that sug-
gested reactionary legislation OF
this kind. "A deeper programme Is
unquestionably behind the move
ment. The next step would be to ap-
ply Jim Crow principles to the street
cars. A property and educational
qualification will be devised for
voters and 80 manipulated, as in the
gulf states, that the Negroes of Mis-
souri, will practically lose the ballot
also. An address to the legislature
has been issued by the general COM
mittee representing the $4,000 col
ored citizens Of st. Louis and vicin-
ity asking for justice as law-abid-
ing, earnest American citizens. 1t Is
respectful document, and the argu-
ments are unanswerable. The plea Is
made with the fervor OF American
manhood that resorts ITO no harsh
words though threatened with q
great wrong. Jim Grow laws have
been talked Of In Missouri legisla-
lures before, but the menace this
time is serious II not imminent. The
senate has done It's worst; the mat
ter now rests with the house and