White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1911-04-09
THE TRAGEDY OF 4 RACE.

~ II A0A AN1LAs -
ton is one of the most striking
epistles ever penned. II is written
in a dispassionate vein. and is the
more powerful because the facts are
hammered in and there IS no es-
Gaping the truth of them. The guilt
or innocence of the great negro lead
er never will be satisfactorily settled;
nor can the harm he has done the
cause of the black race ever be
eradieated Mr.. Reedy deals with
the tragedy of the incident. and
writes more in sorrow thar with any
other emotion; but there is no es-
cape from the logic of his address.
He SAYS.
What shall one say Of the Booker
T. Washington incident in New York
City. except that il is a tragedy
tragedy not alone for him, but for
his race. For his explanation viii
not be believed. Possibly this in
itself is due TO race prejudice bur
the fact is that il viii mot be be
lieyed. The statements of the man
and his wife. who say he peeped
through a keyhole and tried to flirt
with her are TOO positive 70 be met
by simple denial And the conduct
which is alleged against Washington
is too closely related TO the n
great horror and terror of the South
to be in any fashion minimized. Any
thing but that hint of aspiring
familiarity with a white woman might
have been forgiven the distinguished
negro educator. II fits in so aptly
with the South's dictum that the ne
gro cannot be trusted 10 restrain
the impulse Of the servile race 10
sexual relations with the whites.
Washington may not be guilty Il
may be all a terrible mistake. as he
says. but never before in the history
Of the world has there been a mere
glaring example of the diabolieal in
g~enuity OF chance in Stimulating de
sign The occurrence so confirms
racial suspicion in the South that it
seems utterly impossible that the IN
fortunate Washington should ever re-
gain the regard of the world that he
held up 70 this time. That the
episode must retard the cause Of
the education and moral development
Of the negro along the lines laid
down by Washington himself must
be admitted What can We expect
of the. race. people VIII ask, when its
exemplar. its foremost representative
in the world, collapses in character
at just the point of moral strain at
which anthropologists have said the
racial character is fatally weakest In
a minute Washington's great record
as a leader Is anihilated. The hopes
of thousands friendly to his people
are dashed. The chances of myriads
of blacks as yet unborn in this coun-
try are destroyed The Tillmans and
the Vardamans are indicated. This
is the effect. although it is ~voiceless
in the southern press. It is an eff
feet that viii never be Set aside by
any amount of explanation accepted
in however kindly spirit by those
concerned TO break its force upon a
helpless and struggling people. The
usefulness of Booker T. Washing
ton is at an end. If the incident Of
his alleged invasion Of a whites
apartment be explainable TO some on
grounds consistent with morality, no
amount of explanation will satisfy
others. The stain is ineffaeeable.
And if il be the stain Of an untrue
accusation. the tragedy is all the
greater. Everybody will hope that
the implications in the newspaper
stories of last Monday morning are
not true. but at the very best pre-
uarta+fan "a the aduparorfe ease the