The Nashville globe. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1906-193?, 1909-11-05
NEGRO DIsFRANcHIsEMENT AND
THE NEGRO IN BUSINESS.
BY Booker T. Washington.

When I began my work in Tuske-
gee in 1881, the colored people of |
Alabama had just been deprived-in |
way that is now familiar-of many
of their political rights. There was
some voting, but few Negroes held |
office anywhere in Alabama at that
time. The Negroes set great store
by the political privileges that had
been granted them during the Recon
struction period, and they thought
that when they lost these they had
lost ALL
Soon after l went TO Alabama
new President, James &. Garfield,
was inaugurated at Washington. A
little community of colored people
not very far from Tuskegee. were so
impressed with the idea that the new
Administration would do something
to better their condition, especially
in the way of Strengthening their po-
litical rights, that out of their power
ty they raised enough money to pay
the expenses of one of their number
to Washington, in order that he
might get direct information and re-
turn and report to them what the
outlook was. This incident struck
me as the more pathetic because
happened to know the man who went
on this errand. He was good, hon
est, well-meaning fellow, but entirely
lacking in knowledge of the world
outside his own community. l doubt
that he ever got near enough, even
at the Inauguration ceremonies, to
see the President, and I am sure he
never got inside the door of the
White House. He returned to his
people, at any rate, with very gloomy
report, and, although it was never
, quite clear whom he had seen or
what he had done, the people under
stood what it meant.
The people did not say much about
their loss. They preserved outwardly,
3 as rule, the same good nature and
) cheerfulness which had always char
acterized them, but deep down in
' their hearts they had begun to feel
Q that there was no hope for them.
e This feeling of apathy and despair
s continued for a long time among
these people in the country districts
A good many of them who had owned
: land in the county at this time gave
it up or lost it for one reason or an
:, other. Others moved away from the
:, county, and there were a great many
: abandoned farms. Gradually, how
| hn re ha
;, changed. They began to see thai
! harvests were just as good and JUS
= as bad as they had been before the
y changes which deprived them O
- their political privileges. They began
- to see, in short, that there was still
= hope for them in economic if not il
. political directions. The man VIII,
- went to Washington to call on tn
:, President is still living. He is a dill
- ferent person now, new man, il
w fact. Since that time he has pul
- chased farm, has built a decen
=. comfortable house, is educating hi
70 children, and 1 note that never a ses
IN sion of the monthly Farmers Inst
10 titute assemblies at Tuskegee tha
40 man does not come and bring some {
"a the products from his farm to exhil
or it to his fellow-farmers. He is NJ
ee only successful, but he is one of til
40 happiest and most useful individual
in our county. He has learned tbs
no he can do for himself what the al
no thorities at Washington could not d
ir for him, and that is, make his life
- success.
n. A large part of the work whic
n. Tuskegee Institute did in those earl
r. years, and has continued to do dow
III to the present time, has been to sho
or the masses of our people that in agr
ve culture, in the industries, in cor
w merce, and in the struggle toward e
AS onomic success, there were compel
% sations for the losses they had SUI
:. fered in other directions.-The Gu
look, Oct. 8, 1909
10 Oct. 8, 1909