Evening star., 1915-02-19
Calls It Wicked Law.
To the Editor of The Star:

To the Editor of The Star:
desire to second and supplement
Mr.. Milford's very moderate protest, in
your issue of the 11th. against the pro-
posed Jim Crow law for the District of
Columbia. ] have not noticed any
similar letter thus far from white
man. and l wish to have it known that
there is at least one such II hope there
are many) who is willing to stand up
as opposed to this wicked law. I have
not the disposition to slap my fellow
man in the fact and say. Thou art my
inferior!' merely because he is less for
tunate in his ancestry than I deem my
perior those concerned will be likely
to know it. The truly superior do not
need to be labeled.
notwithstanding all pretensions to
and every child of school age, in the
District knows that the enactment of
such a law would be an afrront to the
colored race. The law will not be made
their desire If enacted it will be done
by white votes as an expression of
white social superiority. Apart from
caste prejudice there is no friction on
the cars between the races that would
ever be thought of as requiring legis-
lative interference. Strong colored
men sometimes sit while ladies stand,
but so do strong white men every day
of the year when the cars are crowded.
Young colored women perhaps some
times push their way beyond the limits
of poiiteness, but this is matter which
requires education, not legislation.
have been riding many years OH prac-
tically all of the city. and suburban
lines and I cannot recall single in
stance seen by me of disorder created
by colored person. The offense of the
colored people is merely this-that
they avail themselves of the same priv
a n1a
to lines of caste. The sting is located
exactly there. 1t Is doubtless true that
the negroes are not always agreeable
objects. but If they belonged to any
white race would any one seriously
think of separating them on that ac-
count?
There are today many claiming to be
Christians who are more or less dis
tinctly sensible of the incongruity of
caste distinctions with Christian prin-
ciple, and who are looking for some
scheme by which they may serve the
two masters If my words come to any OF
these, bid them beware of self-decep-
tion. Beware, also. how you stumble
over one of these little ones; "It were
better that milestone were hung about
your neck and you cast into the midst
of the sea-" The part of Christian is
to help the less favored up. not to hold
him down. The negro responds to es-
sentially the same influences as any
other man. Teach him self-respect and
he will become worthy of respect de-
stroy his self-respect or prevent its
development and he will remain low.
To place him in separate cars is to say
anybody, You cannot be anything"
He need not believe you. but to a cer-
tain extent he will, and as far as the
influence of your act goes, you have
kept him from being what he might be.
By SO doing you at the same time mar
~
your children. 1t is a crime to bring
a child Up with the prejudice that by
virtue of his birth, regardless of what
he individually is. he is superior to
some other class of people.
But what shall we say of that class
of persons, represented in a recent
number of The Star by Mr.. J. II. Ad-
riaans, who, under the specious claim
of fair play" are trying to rob the
colored man of his opportunities of
employment under the government?
One would suppose that fair play in
dealing with the colored man would
consist exactly in opening to him the
same privileges as to others; but. be-
hold. the poor oppressed white man Is
resorting to every subterfuge by which
he may hope to wrest from the negro
for his own benefit every desirable op-
portunity while ago in Georgia they
took away from the negro the privi-
lege of being even fireman on a
locomotive. White men wanted this
position. For downright meanness
can think of nothing that goes much
beyond these actions. They are un-
American and still more un-Christian.
The true American and true Christian
sentiment is this: Every human being
shall have the opportunity to be the
best that is in him without any preju-
dice on the ground of birth or any cir
cumstance for which he is not person
ally responsible.