The broad ax., 1912-01-13

1 lRQOTlnR LnA Ql8lluGAAOu NhG AAAN-o@-N-N-
can Of culture finds be IL an anomaly;
| apds that he IL sharing and participating
| IN a culture that IL his only BY right OF
acouisftion and not by right OF inner
itance.
/ To be mindful of the distinction does not
! necessarily make the civilization and Gull
/ ture We propose TO claim and share any
| the less ours. but Il does make IL ours N
! q different way. This IL the contention
| that with the proper approach ana resef-
| yations the frank admission that We par
ttcIpate In an alien culture justiles Us In
A certain historic and actual pride OF &C
ouIsition IN having made our own what
was in the beginning not ours. Furtner'
such an admission should enable Us oy
vay Of contrast to realize nationally our
own position, our own derivations and al
Iegiances, and TO help US 70 build up In
addition a tradition worthy OF our united
Royalties.
INSTEAD. therefore, Of belIttling US the
Ereat contrast Of Aryan culture should
make Il more meaningful TO be Negro.
The Negro's attitude toward his past has
hitherto been q sentimental and mistaken
one There are grave dangers and DIM
culties in achieving a new attitude, but q
new one must be achieved. We might In
time succeed In getting the irst slave
ship into a historical perspective, which
WOULD make IL may Va
freedom from the handicaps OF tropical
climate. but better than this would be an
attitude which would insist upon the full
and remotest tradition OF the race. As
patriot the American Is satisfied 70 60
back as far as the Mayiower, but as
scholar he is forced TO 90 back little
farther We have then the phenomenon
OF Anglo Saxon tradition, Anglo-Saxon
civilization. Aryan culture! II should be
wwHHWk he
American Negro must in time change his
attitude toward the past. The stamp OF
the abolitionist experience and appeal Is
still upon US IL deserves to be an indeli-
BILE memory But the sentimental ties
which bind us to the abOlitiOnist period OF
our history must not be allowed 10 con-
troll our historical attitudes. A genera
tion that has not lived through such q
time can never be expected to care for
race history in exactly the same way. Al
ready the younger generation Is lapsing
from that Sentimental t-..u'!'. and u Is
well. since the attitude w...ch freed as
physically VIII never free as r.entally. IL
binds US - To- what is. tf,-r all only
one periUi 500 Irr lace lil, &c keeps us
from the -urRr" tl,- s.. .unlrTly. At
titude tow. . ..".. 20 ,.ia'II~ Is 20 re-
main in al .oas circle II ..tIIy AMER
lean isolation. t..r Hopvic. sly QuINouc
within Of e.. pie Jh.,J N.Isn-S TO bean
history all over asain w asanot afford
70 let our regard for our Immediate past
blind US 10 the remote racial past. a past
which stands in need Of patient end pains
taking scholarship TO recover. but even
more perhaps in need OF wUrthier his
torical altitude 10 accept IL.
American Iuuu-.: and scholarship are in
process Of bruaurI.ing out in the name OF
culture, and Tor the sake OF tradition a
period Of recunstruCtive scholarship is be-
ginning a period that will retrieve the
necessary damage Of the democratic Sc
cessiOn. This is being done that the
American Of culture need not have to pay
the high price Of expatriation for his cul-
ture. Our situation is parallel. Our in
voluntary transportation is analogous to
the colonial Americans voluntary revolu-
ton. We must like him. go back to claim
as tradition and culture all We have
broken with as government and authority.
There Is for US no alternative TO turning
back toward an African and racial past.
But such course need no more interfere
with our entering into the full heritage
OF a liberal education than race loyalty
to Anglo-SaXon civilization interferes with
American patriotism
America. standing, as Il does, for the
common ownership OF the utilities OF civ
ilization, cannot stand for the amalgama-
ton OF cultures. America, at all events.
Is not sure Of her own mental nationality,
and behind the traditional uniformities Of
American life and thought il is significant
to find certain latent racial traits and
traditions in process OF development and
assertion. The fear that the acknowledge
ment OF the birth claim to ideas under
mines the republican claims TO free insti-
tutions, the fear that sense for race his
tory and tradition shuts one out from an
impersonal and more inclusive particIpa-
ton in general history and culture can
only be INDUCED by those who misunder-
stand the trend OF American institutions
Indeed, freed from national responsible
ties and governmental ambitions, racial
pretensiuns are free in this country to de-
Velop without opposition or mIsconstruc-
don. Certainly America has offered this
TO other races. Not only have certain
Irish ambitions and hopes impossible OF
realization elsewhere been realized in this
country, but their realization. while con-
tibutory largely and periodically TO the
sum total OF American achievement has
reacted upon the whole status and welfare
or that race In its ma tive home The Jew
ish communism In this country further
has contributed TO its racial life the world
over and stands today as the champion OF
some OF its most significant reform move
ments. America affords the unique posi-
bility OF a race life and propaganda exist
ing without contradicting national and
patriotic loyalties and responsibilities.
The historical dilemma OF the American
Negro is a great culture problem. II Is
also great American problem. Its solu-
ton will prove or disprOve whether or not
culture by adoption is possible and wheth-
er race can exist within a nation with
out disrupting the nation or contradicting
itself IL We accept the burden of being
an experiment in this land Of experiment
II Is because We have additional reasons
These additional reasons are the desire TO
solve our own problems. TO convert in
vidious distinctions lHtO others rational
and respected
Good Work Of Wornsn's Clubs In Texas.
The Mothers club Of San Antonio.