Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1911-12-08

the negro who have sincere desire
and purpose to do him full justice
and who make an honest effort In that
direction, but who seem to be unable
to accomplish much, or to meet with
gratifying results in their efforts
They are easily discouraged and
| turned aside from their purpose. and
are too ready to throw up their hands
and say: What Ia the use? They
are prone to lose faith In the negro
and say: .Ephraim is Joined to his
Idols: let him alone They feel q
strong sense of duty, but they have
no inspiration of hope. Their EFFORTS
are consequently mechanical and list.
less, and lack the enthusiasm that is
essential to success. The trouble
with these friends Of the negro Is,
that they have failed to attain to a
recognition Of the best qualities OF
the negro character. They do not
rightly apprehend and appreciate
him They look for certain qualities
which they say he ought to possess,
and not finding them they overlook
others which he does possess. They
form their estimate of him by looking
at him In bulk. whereas, in order to
get correct estimate Of him they
ought to look at the Individual mem
bers OF the race who have made the
greatest advance and accomplished
the best results. There are negroes,
and plenty Of them, who are honor
able and reliable in high degree.
Let him contemplate these, and not
look altogether upon the shiftless ele-
ment and the criminal classes. There
are plenty of negroes who are indus
trious and frugal in their habits. Let
our white friend think about these.
make their acquaintance and look
into their honest faces. and not con-
fine his observation and attention to
the idle, vagrant, worthless classes.
"The way to Judge humanity Is by
its best specimens, and not by its
worst We see in the best the capa-
bilities OF the worst under proper
training and environment; and the OPP
timistic spirit, which is our most be-
coming attitude, should prompt us to
bring into play our highest moral and
intellectual faculties in order that we
may be able to discern the good with
clear and strong vision, and thus get
a broad and correct estimate, and not
narrow and perverted one, Of our
brother in black.
There are others among the white
people who are Indifferent to all ques-
tions which relate to the problem
caused by the presence of the colored
people in our midst, and still others
who are actively opposed to them, and
who never lose an opportunity to
strike them with mailed hand. They
can see no good in them, and taunt
those who do with the opprobrious
epithet Of negrophile.
Nothing In the way of helpfulness
is to be expected of these except to
open their eyes and decrease their
numbers. They are a menace to the
best civilization Of the times in which
we live. and If left to themselves
would soon bring about state of war
fare between the blacks and whites.
Their number has been on the in
crease since the breaking of the old
relations Of master and servant be-
tween the white man and the negro,
and there are entirely too many of
them today; but there are many of
us who believe that a broader and
more appreciative sentiment Is grad
ually gaining ground among the white
people of the south There are many,
very many, who do not join in that
sentiment of Indifference and hostil-t
ity, and who are ever ready to insist
on justice and fair play toward the
negro and to lend him a helping
hand; and there are strong and rea-
sonable grounds for the hope that
their number will increase.
"This is not the time and place to
discuss and elaborate In extenso
the question of the relations between
the two races. and, perhaps, the less
said about that the better. But there
can be no harm IN saying and insist
ing that these relations should be cor
dial and friendly. The colored man
is Our Brother in Black and belongs
to the great brotherhood Of the races
that inhaBit' the earth. He Is part
of our common humanity, and is en-
titled to his place in the world. and
In the civilization of this American
country. Whether he will maintain
that place depends absolutely upon
him. II he proves himself worthy. he
will stand. If he fails, he. must 60
down. Let all good men help him,
and see that he has q fair chance"