The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-05-20
RACE CONFLICTS.

Differences, sntpathies and antagonisms of
blood. color and religious beliefs are being
presented now more sharply than ever before
In the worlds history. The cables, the swift
ocean steamers and the distance devouring loco
motive force all the nations and people of the
earth into contact and competition in business
and political affairs, but the social barriers
stand as they have stood. The Hebrew race
IS more widely scattered through the world than
any other, and yet has maintained its purity
with astonishing persistency. Among its earliest
records are warnings against mixtures with
surrounding peoples and tribes which seem to
have been absorbed as part of the life and IN
stinct OF the nation. The other white peoples
have been equally exclusive regards color
but indifferent. comparatively. concerning race
and tongue. Germans and French; English,
Irish and Scotch; Russians and Poles have in
tcrmarried especially on this continent. and
the average American has traces of every white
blood that has known a few centuries of ciyiliza-
tion. The people Of English speaking stock
have drawn the color line consistently in their
laws and generally in their customs, Even in
the Northern States of this country where the
statutes permit the marriages of white and
colored people such unions are regarded as de-
gradations to both parties The Spanish. the
earliest settlers legaized marriage with Indians
and negroes and the results have not been good
1t is a strange fact that here In Virginia where
TIE people than anywhere else In the
country pride themselves the purity of their
blood. some of the oldest and proudest families
boast an infusion of Indian. Yet far
dian woman married to white man, intense
a. were the first corners in their search for
wives and there is no known instance of an
Indian OF any degree marrying a white woman.
The traces Of mixed blood from the Indians are
few. and even In the West. where the red man has
fingered longest, the half-breeds and quarter
breeds are rare by comparison with the general
population. Somehow we seem to have decided
that the Indians are more closely akin to us
than the other colored races and an Indian.
white alliance Is not considered with the same
repugnance and disgust attend marriages be
tween whites and negroes or Chinese. BY some
unexplained process we class the Japanese next
to the Indians and accept them freely social
associates while rejecting their yellow skinned
cousins just across the line<
The subject Is of interest if not of immediate
Importance because of the Worldwide discus,
sion of the possibility or imminence Of great
race war. the insistance Of the yellow skinned
races Of the Orient and the black and yellow
people Of India equal social and POLITICAL
rights with the white man Already we are
assured that in case of such war. directed
sgainst this country, the sympathies of Australia
New Zealand and Canada would be Violently"
side. The home government of Great
Britain probably would have all ii could attend
tc in India. We would have our hands full in
the Philippines and Japan and along our West
ern coasts. Such fight would be one of ex.
tinction and determination. Old race instincts
and animosities, long dormant, would be reused
u fury. There would be no doubt of the final
result The white man has the quality of stand.
Ing and dying in his tracks and killing be.
fore he dies possessed by no other race He
inches
{ The suggested is imaginable but prac-
tically is impossible Wars now are waged with
rooney and the white man has the money and
control OF is sources. While the subject is of
current discussion and interest however, 1t is
well for students of the time to give some at
tention to the mater OF varying race differences.
prejudices and antagonisms,