The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1916-08-26
"COlORED LEADERSHIP
(From the Cleveland Gazo++o

-
Inc attempt on the part of certain
whlte people interested in industrial
euucatlon for our people almost to
me point OF opposition to any other
hlno, TO select for the race a man or
set OF men as the recognized leader
Or leaders of the race, is at LEAST nrei-
uuic4dl. NO man or combination of
Ii 1nen could so nominate Theodore
l'ooseVelt leader of the white race of
Amerlca. The position Mr.. Roosevelt
occupies In this respect came not
from the dictum of Interested narties
out IRON the moral worth of the man
10 the nation as shown by his deeds
and words. Even the election ~ -
a TO the presidency of this country
ooes not make him the leader of anv
race. Political good fortune NAV he
Hat1onal or racial calamity. Manv
wnlte persons frequently say, our
people should follow the dictum If
certain men of the race whose tall
VI attitude toward vital Questions
pleases them. Because of the nrei.
udlce extant in this country against
the race, and as this prejudice is verv
large from white opposition tn orr
men coming on equality with them
any choice for leadership by them for
the race smacks of the suspicion that
lne suggested leader is in accord
WIN their prejudiced point of view
we oelleve that colored and white
men should seek the golden mean NJ
harmony in all things essential for
the development of both races h,,{
wnen a leadership is foisted upon any
iace and That too against the recog
nl2ed wishes of the race, that leader
snip however backed up by money
| Will De most bitterly fought The at
tempt TO make head of any particu
Jar school, the leader of a race. is r.
orlng down upon both the school and
| lts mead the opposition of all not ir
sympathy with the 'leader." Certain
quallhcations leader must have +
ne would lead, and devoid of these he
Will ANONYMOUSLY fail. Anv man
VINO mas not keen appreciation of
tne worth and rights of his race can.
not be the leader of that race. Anv
man who will surrender the funda
mental things that belong to his race
IS unfit to lead that race to viri1e
: manhood and responsibility. The
| more other races emphasize his fit
ness: the more his inacceptability will
manifest itself. No man dead or alive
HAS ever been the leader of our race
IN this country. Many men livine
and dead have been the exponents ri
many things that contribute largely
TO the races welfare. Besides man
VINO may be a leader in one thine
may not be a leader in all. To pro
claim the president of Harvard col
lege as the leader of the white race
OF America is to insult that race. Not
because the president of Harvard is
lacking in sane advices, noble nre
cepts and manly virtues such as arc
; applicable to the rise of any race. bu1
; because the demands of the white
race are so multiplied and varied thai
no one man can possibly lead in all
| The same is true of our race The
1nslstence by white men that all OH,
men echo the policy or plan of some
mar man OF the race they (the whites)
| iike' is a very disturbing element in
the progress of the race The po1icy
or placing unlimited resources in the
hands OF this leader as we'll as mete
ing out to the race only those THINGS
THIS white appointed leader" die
tates, is to subject the race to 2
specie OF slavery that is more damna
pie than peonage, for it attempts tc
letter the mind. All we ask of white
men, north, south, east and west. is
10 allow our men to come to leader
snip IN the same way others achieve
!. 1t. Our race appreciates it's great
men. 1t is willing to give them honor
and homage, but it is unwilling tc
| DOW the knee to any white mans
choice of leadership" simply because
; this leader fits in with the diseased
and prejudiced mind of those opposed
to untrammeled manhood for, ou1
people.
lREV) VIM. A. BYRD.