The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-17
LETTERS TO EDITOR
Defends Dixon's Attitude

To the Editor of The Age-Herald,
In your issue of January 10, you pub
lished very unjust and undeserved lcriti-
cism of Thomas Dixon's play, "The Leop-
ards Spots,'' written by DIR. B. f. Riley.
L wish to say word in reply to him
and in defense of Mr.. Dixon.
DR.. Riley, if he has ever read the book
in question, failed entirely to comprehend
the message or perceive the moral of it.
Thomas Dixon was the first man to write
a book showing the true condition of our
fathers, and the true state of things in
the reconstruction. As Edgar Allen Poe
! is the foremost poet of the SOUTH so is
| Dixon the foremost prose writer. In
| fact know of but one book other than
Dixon's work which paints any accurate
picture of the old south and that is,
white Blood.
l was fortunate enough to attend the
| initial performance of the dramatized
| "Leopards Spots" and l cannot say
enough in praise of it. The audience
seemed to be composed OF almost entirely
| southern people and when Mr. Dixon ap-
peared to make his talk at the conclusion
| of the second act he received sucn an
enthusiastic reception that he was not
| able to speak for some minutes. There
was a scattering of old Confederate vet
Grams and it was pleasing to see the way
they received their champion.
| Mr.. Dixon made one of the most clear,
lucid, forcible and convincing speeches
| that 1t has ever been my fortune to
| listen to. In 1t he revealed conditions
| that are astonishing and alarming, but
| nevertheless are true. He stated that
his father was an old-fashioned Baptist
minister for 90 years, but that he had
never done his God, his country, or his
people greater service than he did as
one of the chiefs of the Ku-Klux Klan
| He stated further that the keeper of the
| records in New York told him that an
average of three licenses were issued daily
| to negro men to marry white women
in spite all that was being done to pre-
| vent this condition. He stated also thai
though we have laws in Alabama tc
prevent marriage between the races, that
we are still helpless to protect ourselves
as a negro can get on a train, and In 81
| hours travel reach New York, where he
! is permitted to form a union with d white
! woman.
Mr.. Dixon made passionate appeal tc
the people not to stop the fight anc
stand on a square foot of United States
territory and be legally united with g
| white woman.
AS young st. Glare states in the play
the future American is to be either white
| black or yellow. Shall it be black, OIL
worse still, yellow? If not it must be
IsWhite, and 1t is up to the white men OF
the south to perserve the purity Of the
| race The most precious heritage of the
south is the brave and indomnitable spirit
of the men who followed the God fearing
Lee, the brave and true Jackson, the
immortal Stewart and the crafty Forrest
through all the dark days of the civil
war and the still darker days of the re-
construction. Dixon paints faithful
picture of the struggles of the same brave
men to perserve their pure women, un-
der the rule of the odius. freedmen's bu-
| reau AS long as the south has one man
| in whose veins flows the proud and
| chivalrous blood Of the old south the
| fight will not cease.
| The negro never was the equal of the
white man and never will be-, When
| God placed the curse on Ham He intended
| his descendants to remain in a subservient
position during the remainder of time tc
come. Although they may be educated
and made to appear the equal OF thi
white they can no more change theil
| color and their beastly instincts than the
leopard can his spots. The southern
/ spirit is far from dead, as it was much II
| evidence last night. The word south,
has come to be symbolical. of chivalry
hospitality and bravery. am southern
my principles are southern. and my home
! 8 in the south. l consider this something
| to be proud of, and what man who ha!
sbeen reared below the Mason-Dtxon lint