The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-04-05

and humor. are of
@ course a sequence OF
@- racial history.
Two centuries and more of slavery
in this country left impress upon the
negro race nowhere more marked
han upon its humor. To the hurnor
Indigenous TO the African race were
added characteristics resulting from
their condition as slaves. In other
words, the humor Of the Africo-
American race is hybrid. It repre-
sents the life of a primitive people
modified by years Of intimate contact
with a superior people. Two stories
will help to make plain the differ
ence.
Uncle Ephraim,' asked a little boy
of his fathers negro foreman, what
are the best things to eat in all the
world
You name Owe some good uns and
I'll pick out de bes,' replied the wary
darkey.
The little boy knew his listener. and
hence he began as follows: "PoSsums
and sWeet-pOtatoes and water-melons
and
stop rite dar' honey. stop rite
dar. You lone name dem all
This story smacks Of the heart OF
Africa. The racial appetite enSend-
cred there and the humorous appre-
Sl VI AAS
ca in the same ship that brought
Ephraim's grandfather n will linger
here in Ephraim's grandSon-pro-
yided always that the grandson $
blood is undiluted with white blood.
Then an example of the negro hui
morist affected by his American en-
virOnment:
A crowd of negroes was gathered
for a political convention. A very
squat. cadayerOus, country negro ap-
preached an unusually tall, pompOus,
~ratroniZing leader, and throwing back
his head until his eyes reached the
plane Of the others face. said
lis dis you, Isham?'
ITO be shore hits me. You didn t
think it was you, did you?"
This answer is em~inently Afrlco-
American. Isham was reaching
after the white mans keenest napier,
satire: but his humorous develop
ment, though begun, was as yet too
primary for the post-tertiary satire
period, and his hand grasped only
that dull bludgeon, quirkism.
In order to make a study OF this
Africo-American humor. the writer
collected from all over the Negro
Belt" a large number Of anecdotes, IN
cidents. stories, WitticiSms. repartees
told by negroes. Care was taken to
get these pies from the most Tilt
crate, and the blacklist negroes. Ihls
precaution was exercised so as TO get
as far as possible stories and anec-
dOtes of unadulterated African origin.
But such stories as the Africans first
adopted from other races and then
"negrOiZed' were not excluded as
these. from the very fact of their
adoption. reveal with gertrude what
humorous elements most appeal to
the negro. From a careful analysis
Of his collection the following lnduc-
tons were drawn:
/. The American negro has been
most prolific in that form of humor
in which the wit or artifice of the
weaker triumphs over the A
collector is at once struck with the
plethora of such anecdotes in every
amt stOry-teller's repertoire.
Nothing is more natural than for the
negro to make and enjoy this form of
humor. The negro race on our con-
tinent has always been the weaker
race; it could not meet force with
force. It could triumph over the
stronger only by shreWd trickery,
witty a%rtifice, or cunning fabrication
To it, a ruse skillfully executed often
meant safety or victory. Hence it de-
veloped a wonderful aptitude for de-
Tense along this line.
This fact Of course accounts for the
wide creation and popularity among
negroes of those animal legends that
have the rabbit for hero. In these
sized by their princely teller, Mr..
Harris, "Brer Rabbit the weaker
and the most defenceless Of the ami
mails. always by deception, by a%rtifice.
by plausible fabrication. triumphS
over the wiles of his stronger adver-
saries. In addition to his set of
stories. in every rice field of Carolina.
in every swamp Of Mississippi, and in
every ~canebrake of Louisiana, racon-
teurs j%ubilantly tell to admiring
~ - t.0,1y %hA -, ~ ~ Doh toll
lust a poor, weak man. beat the SUI
perhuman Devil. Every cabin on the
Gulf Of Mexico has its home Variant
Of the old Italian story Of You didnt