The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1916-08-19
"cOLORED LEADERsH,pv
From tho Nlouo1,l


Inc attempt on the part of certain
"h1te people interested in Industrial
eaucatlon for our people almost tn
tne point of opposition to any other
KIND, to select for the race a man ~
set OF men as the recognized leader
VI leaders OF the race, is at least nrei.
uulclal. NO man or combination Of
men could so nominate Theodore
roosevelt leader of the white race of
america. The position Mr., Rooseve1t
occupies in this respect came not
from the dictum of interested nartio os
put from the moral worth of the man
~ tne nation as shown by his deeds
ana words. Even the election of a
man to the presidency of this country
uoes not make him the leader of anv
race. Political good fortune NAV he
d natlonal or racial calamity. Manv
whte persons frequently say, orr
people should follow the dictnm If
certain men of the race whose ta1k
VI attitude toward vital questions
pieases them. Because of the nrei.
ud1ce extant in this country against
Inc race, and as this prejudice is verv
large from white opposition to orr
men coming on equality with them
any choice for leadership nv tham for
ne ne race smacks of the suspicion that
ne suggested leader is in accord
WI WIN their prejudiced point of view
we believe that colored and white
men should seek the golden mean Of
harmony in all things essential for
l1e development Of both races. buf
When leadership is foisted upon anv
race and that too against the recoo-
nlZed wishes of the race, that leader
SNIP however backed up by money
Will be most bitterly foug ht. The at.
Tempt to make a head of anv nartic,,.
lar school, the leader of a race. is tn
nrlng down upon both the school and
us mead the opposition of all not in
sympathy with the leader" Certain
qualifications a leader must have if
he would lead, and devoid of these no
Will ANONYMOUSLY fail ANY man
VINO mas not keen appreciation of
inc 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 unit to lead that race to virile
manhood and responsibility. The
more other races emphasize his fit.
ness, the more his inacceptabilitv will
manifest itself. No man dead or alive
mas ever been the leader of orr race
IN this country. Many men living
ana dead have been the opponents Of
many things that contribute largely
10 the races welfare Besides a man
VINO may be leader in one thing
may not be leader in all. To nro.
claim the president of Harvard co1-
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 pre-
cepts and manly virtues such as are
applicable to the rise of any race hit
because the demands of the white
race are so multiplied and varied that
no one man can possibly lead in all.
Inc same is true of our race. The
lnslstence by white men that all orr
men .echo the policy or plan of some
man OF the race they (the whites)
IKE is very disturbing element in
the progress of the race. The policy
OF 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 a
specie of slavery that is more damna-
pie than peonage, for it attemDts to
fetter 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
IT, Our race appreciates it's great
men. 1t is willing to give them honor
and homage, but it is unwilling to
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 our
people.
crew VIM. A. BYRD.