The broad ax., 1917-02-03
SOME PHASES OF THE NEGRO IN
THE UNITED STATES.
Iliteracy-Article Number Two.
By John w. FELTON,.


yanced as to the reason that Negroes
in the United States are Disseminated |
against. In my opinion, there is no one
reason, but it is safe to say that 1lllt- |
eracy plays an important part.
In viewing the Negro, not from the
heights that he has attained but from
the depths from which he sprang, the
reduction of his illiteraey has been a
marvellous feat.
In 1880 the illiteracy of the Negro
was 20 per cent; in 1890 it was ST. per
cent; in 1000 AS, and 1910 it had been
reduced to 30.4 per cent. When it is
realized that within thirty years the il
literacy of the Negro has been reduced
from 20 to 30.4 per cent, no one can
truthfully say that his record in Grad
icating illiteracy has not been phenom-
email.
This has been accomplished in spite
of the fact that for every nine dollars
spent in the State of Mississippi on in
vestment in school property, only one
dollar is spent for Negroes. 1t is also
to be noticed that in Louisiana for
every ffty-one dollars spent for the
same purpose, only forty-nine dollars of
it is spent for the Whites" .'Oh, In
consistency, thou art jewel"
These conditions do not exist in these
two states alone, but throughout the
benighted South. Facing such condi-
tions as these, not to speak of the das-
tardly crimes committed against the
Negro, we should not marvel because
nearly quarter of million of them
have left recently.
There are fifty cities that have a to-
tai population of 100000. OF these, the
highest percentage of illiteracy EFF the
Negro in 1910 were as follows: Biz
mingham, Ala, 22.1; Nashville, Tenn,
%; and Atlanta, Ga, 200. Of the
nineteen cities of this class having
population of at least 10000 Negroes,
the lowest percentages of illiteracy
were: In Boston, 3.5 per cent; New
York, SO; and Chicago, per cent. The
lowest per cent recorded in any of these
cities was IA per cent in Rochester,
New York.
In Georgia in 1929 the following law
was enacted: If any slave, Negro or
free person of color, or any white per
son shall teach any other slave, Negro,
or free person of color TO read or write,
either written or printed characters,
the said free person or slave shall be
punished with a fine and whipping, or
fine or whipping, at the discretion of
the court; and if a white person so
offend, he, she, or they shall be pun
ished with a fine not exceeding $500
and Imprisonment in the common Jail,
at the discretion of the court.
Similar laws were enacted in Louisi-
ana, Mississippi, Missouri, South Caro-
lima and Virginia. Such southern
writer's as w. B. Smith and Thomas
Nelson Page with their pseudo-scientiic
books on the Negro have yet much to
learn about him.
w. B. Smith in his disgusting volume,
"Along the Color Line" heaps unhal-
lowed obloquy upon the Negro. He
says that he is illiterate, criminal, etc,
without stopping to consider the causes
of these things if they are so. With
such obstacles as the Blease "Walls -
to scale, the Vardaman "Seas" to
cross, the Tillman Mountains to
climb, the Smith "Air' to breathe and
the Page "Water' to drink, it would
be well not to boast of scholarship and
accomplishment, but rather marvel that
the Negro is able to read the first
reader.
The school attendance of the Negro
to 90 years of age is Alb. Now, in
order to eradicate the menace of illit'
eracy, the remaining 52.7 per cent
should be made to attend school by law
if not by the parents of the children
If this was done Immediately, in 1920
when the next census is taken, the il
literacy of the Negro would be so small
that it would hardly be worth while
to count.