The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1912-12-14
RACE PREJUDICE.

RACE PREJUDICE,
A most impressive address on this
subject was delivered by Archbishop
Ireland at st. Charles church, Minne-
apolis. last Sunday night, before a
mixed congregation Of blacks and
whites. It was on the occasion of the
ending of a weeks mission to colored
people by Rev. ]. H. Dorsey Of Mont
somery, Ala. To say that the st. Paul
prelate was eloquent and convincing
Is unnecessary, for he is that at all
times; but on this occasion he really
surpassed himself in simplicity of
language and cogency Of express
sion and held the rapt attention
Of all who had the delight of listening
to his animated and instructive dis
course.
Color" said the archbishop, sis q
very small thing to judge a man by.
To say I am better than you, because
I am white and you are black is
silly, is a sien Of ignorance and above
all is against the spirit and the teach
ings Of the Catholic church. The
United States is the only country in
the world whore race prejudice is
known. and it is strange that this
should be, for the government Of this
country IL founded on the principle
that all men are born equal, The
catholic church is universal, and,
therefore, judges the negro by hit con-
Duct and not by his color. For that
reason it always welcomes the negro
In Rome, in Spain. in France, in the
Catholic countries Of South America.
negroes occupy high places In the
Catholic church. The Catholic who
discrimtnates against his colored
neishbors because Of their color. to
that extent is poor Catholic. want
you to leave this church tonight with
the feeling that all men are brothers.
and that character 10. the real test Of
worth"
Before the Archbishop began his
discourse. Father Dorsey had referred
to great negroes Of history like Tous-
saint Louverture. the Haytian gen.
eral and liberator. carried beyond the
seas. under false pretenses, by Napol-
con and cruelty treated by that ambi-
tious tyrant who had imprisoned the
Pope himself because he could not
bend the Vicar Of Christ to his will.
Father Dorsey also told the audience
that there were negroes canonized by
the church in the early ages, like st.
Augustine. for instance, and that two
eminent men Of his race had occupied
the chair Of Peter and ruled the Cath
ole world before slavery was intro
duced into the United States.
Though the Archbishop and Father
Dorsey did not say 1t, we may inform
our Juvenile readers that 1t was the
Anglo saxons. then Christianized but
afterw rds Protestantized, that
brought slavery into America in 1920
tho very year the Pilgrims landed
on the rock bound coast Of New
England to enjoy the religious free
dom Of which they were deprived in
old England.
For 240 years. long after the British
were driven out of the country by
George Washington and his soldiers.
slavery held sway in this republic and
1t took great civil war to wipe it
out in blood. It was during that per-
iod that race prejudice was engen-
dered here and it has not vet been
banished from the breasts of the
whites, but is gradually disappearing.
The Irish people are often accused
Of entertaining prejudice against the
negroes on account Of the color of
their skin. That accusation is not well
founded. The flower Of the Irish race
in the days Of Cromwell were trans.
ported az slaves to the Barbados, and
the old and feeble were sent to ''h-I
or Connaught" by the Saxon
tyrant and resicide after their lands
were coniscated east of the Shannon.
The Irish can sympathize with all Oh.
pressed races. They never prosecuted
any people on earth because Of creed
or race. They have left all that to
the Turks and Angio-Saxons.
In the days of Daniel o'Connell, who
was the embodiment Of Catholic Ire
land. that great man was visited by
Fred Douglas, the escaped negro slave,
When he received the negroes card,
he rushed to the door. threw his arms
around the black man and embraced
him with tears in his eyes He made
the eloquent Douglas his guest while
he remained in Dublin.
Wendell Phillips relates In his lee
tprs on o'Connell that when he re.
ceived large contribution from the