The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1916-01-22

of by several, all such questions being
readily and satisfactorily answered by
Mr.. Francis and number of pertinent
points were elucidated.
The following are some extracts
from Mr.. Francis address:
1.-THE error most commonly made by
those who consider the Negro at all
is, that they are all alike. No thought
is given, by the, majority Of the PEG.
pie, that the Negro race is differentiat
ing and should be considered, by
classes, as any other race, and not as
a whole. When freedom came the
Negroes were of homogeneous mass
but the evolution of fifty years has pro
duced strata, social, moral, intellectual
and economic.
Yet many people think, speak and
write of the Negro as if the problem
had not undergone this evolution.
There are some who recognize in.
telligent and well-to-do Negroes, hon.
est and hard-working Negroes, lazy
and vicious Negroes. But it is doubtful
II any considerable number Of those
who recognize the existence of some
differentiation, realize to what distinct
and widely separate classes it has
developed. The better elements have
risen higher than people appreciate
generally. This evolution progresses
faster and faster as the years go by
1t was slow at first 1t is rapid now
the cleavage is encouraged by a deter.
mlnatlon to grasp the opportunities of
the new conditions as shown right
here in our own City of st. Paul where
we have a population of about five
thousand Negroes who are buying or
own and pay taxes on $51 10000
worth of church property; on $685.
100000 worth of property owned by fra
ternal organizations, and $750,OOOOO in
homesteads.
I'm 1910 there were 2,227,731 illit-
crate colored people in the United
States and the percentage of the illit-
crates was 1914 The percentage of
the illiterates in colored population in
the North in 1910 was 1872; South 4S,
and West 1871. ar
"The highest percentage of litter
ates in any state is 1914 in Louisiana,
and the lowest is 3.4 in our own state
of Minnesota.
when we remember that the Negro
people of the United States started
out empty handed, without property,
without education, with no schools and
with great efforts to prevent the es-
Enlistment of schools for their bene-
Mt; and when we know that even
now tho Yy1h1io 4f fho
for the Negroes are purposely poorly
0fhcered and managed and that the
school year for the Negroes in many
parts of the South is from five weeks
to five months; and, further, that in
many Of the Southern states like
Louisiana, Negroes are not permitted
to receive instruction beyond the fifth
grade, and that in Florida and Georgia
white people are prohibited by the
state laws from teaching colored peo-
pie in any institution of learning, it
ls wonderful indeed that today the
Negroes of the United States have
so lar progressed that they have
among their number in the profess
s1onal service, as shown by the United
States census for 1910. Actors 1,279;
Architects So; Artists and Sculptors
329; Authors 81; Chemists 1923; Civil
and Mining Engineers 217; Clergymen
Y. 1875; College Presidents and Profess
sors 242; Dentists 478; Lawyers $50;
Musicians and Teachers of Music s.
5O6; Physicians and Surgeons 3,O77;
Teachers 29,485: Trained Nurses g.
1913; Veterinary Surgeons 1872. That
We own 860,89S homes and operate