New-York tribune., 1908-07-17
IDEAL EDUCATION
Industrial Training, Pure and Sim
ple. Not Under This Head.

in life" was thrown down at the School Of Philan-
thropy yesterday morning. 1t Dr. H. p
Douglas, superintendent of seventy-fve schools
maintained for the negroes of the South by the
Congregational Home Missionary Society, who
threw down the gauntlet and in the course or
the talk. in which he dared to call in question
| the favorite educational fads of the day. he told
some very interesting things.
The first education given the negro by North
ern phlanthropists after the war proceeded on
an entirely theoretical basis. Its effort was not
to train the race to be useful. but TO develop a
few minds very highly The South itself set the
test Calhoun said Show a negro who can
read Greek, and 1 will concede that the whole
race should be freed It illogical. made
quate test, but 1t was test which represented
sufficiently well the attitude of the whole white
toward the so-caled inferior races. That at
ttude that the inferior not ca
pable of the white mans mental development
So the first Northern educators set out to show
that the negro could read Greek. that he could
acquire education that white man could
acquire
They did it. II has been proved that the negro
can read Greek. 1t has been proved that he Is ca
pable of the highest mental training OF course the
picked few who have achieved this are in no way
representative of the negro Neither are the
highest white types: and every race demands and
has right to be judged by its highest specimens
THE WHITE MANS TEST.
The demand for industrial training for the negro
did rise till the generation of slave trained
tisans began to pass away. Then 1t rose and be-
came the keynote of modern training for the race
The early method unsparngly denounced, but
that early method, unsuited It to the masses
did something which number of negro carpen-
ters farmers skilled mechanics could have
done. The fact that 1t proved that the Amer
lean negro could Greek completely altered the
whole attitude of the white toward all the
called inferior races in the world. And Just as
soon the mental attitude is altered the whole
scheme of treatment of these throughout the
world must in time alter also. When lower race
rises up and passes the white mans own test the
whole position Of the white toward that race
| has got to alter. That worth teaching Greek
| for a generation. It was even worth neglectfng
| more useful training for time. though far
use goes, all the negro colleges and schools have
never yet turned ell the trained negro leaders,
doctors. lawyers and teachers that the negro race
could employ and keep busy.
wOMAN's EDUCATION
"'Industrial inefciency is the cry of the .duca-
tional reformers; vocational schools their shib
| boleth- That vocational training is necessary
enlightened person will deny. But. like all other
| good things, this idea may be pushed too far It
is now seriously proposed by these vocational
| thusiasts TO go back the whole plan of modern
education for women and alter the curricula 50 an
! 10 train her only for her vocation in Hfe.'
| &c. Stanley Hall and of his followers are
| back of this. DR.. Hall is psychologist. He has
| anayzed the female mind. He says It Is different
from the male. and should have different pa bulum
fed to it. The sentimental and aesthetic aspects of
| nature should be presented to It, instead OF the
| sterny logical ones But now comes along the
sociologst and corrects the psychologist Professor
| Thomas in his book that woman is yet
| artificial being, produced by social conditions and
outside pressure He that the traits she shows
are not necessarily natural female traits. For in
| stance II is deceitful, has so often
| charged it is exactly what any kept bond
| age is Subject races are always deceitful. No
| body is outspoken who is afraid Relieve woman
of social pressure. Let her show what she really is
first then fit her education to her nature. But
don't fit the education while she is still under art
| fetal conditions. keep her where she Is
| Don't presume to pronounce on the proper educa-
| ton of until she is thoroughly emancipated
| Woman is not yet completely emancipated. any
| more than the negro IS. The emancipation OF
| woman and the negro have gone hand in hand in
| this country and present points in common
| than any supposes For instance. all through
| the South you Will find negroes listed on pay
| rolls and elsewhere as mechanics helper" The
| man is really a mechanic and does mechanics g
| work but he gets the rank and pay of
| chanics helper. So many a negro is in reality
| clerk performing clerks duties in a white es-
| tablishment but listed and paid porter.
Race prejudice operates to keep back the economic
| status of the race. In exactly the same way sex
| prejudice pays a woman a smaller salary for the
| same work than man. Women are yet In the
| position of subject race.
| "Whv is 1t that the women are not contented 10
| have separate schools and separate and different
| curricua? Why is it they determined to pursue
lust the same studies that men do and In the same
classes? For the reason that the negro want
| ed To read Greek No dominant will acknowl
| edge equality a which has been kept sub
| iect until the subject passes the dominant
races tests Neither the subject ever con-
! fdentIy and believngly assert its own equality
unf if has passed the tests of the dominant race.
They may believe that the things they themselves
do are equally important and difficult but the DOM
| inapt race Is never going to allow that Both the
| uomen and the negro had to read Greek. they had
IN mass the white mans test before he would even
admit the possibility OF their equality When the
| woman is thoroughly emancipated men will no
,onger he discussing her education any more than
che nouy does theirs She will settle her own educa-
| tjon and choose what suits her.
| Now Greek has never been particularly useful
| ~ women negroes white men. An infnitesimsl
,orton of the human makes any use of It after
lea wing school Nevertheless. the ambition to read
| ~ on the mart of women and negroes was a high
| ambition a great ideal, and L refuse &c believe
that the recasting of the position OF subject race
| ~ cav In the eyes of the world was not worthy
| q, tdeaI as that of becoming such good work
man that the employers output would be increased
eve want skilled workers. both Tor their own
| ots and the sake OF tho product. But we want
ideals too I protest against any scheme OF edcca-
-. ,h,oh wants to train the children of this coun-
trv merely turn out mors proouot Tor 'heir ei-