The Dallas express. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1893-1970, 1919-09-06
THE MIRROR OF
PUBLIC OPINION

in recent years and the members of
which have become unusually active
and the members of which have be-
come unusually active since the en-
trance of the United States into the
world war. There are hundreds of
such men spread throughout the
South engaged in educational and
other activities in behalf Of their
people. For the most part they are
men who toll necessarily for in
adequate compensation as teachers,
preachers and educational nd re-
ligious leders. Their lives contrast
,strikingly with new class which has
arisen to enrich itself at great non
sense of the members of their own
race through catch-penny schemes. 1t
is hardly an accident that the great
bulk OF advertising in the type of
Negro newspapers which have been
appealing to the baser passions and
ignorant prejudices of the Colored
people is Of fake hair straighteners,"
face bleachers," and other catch
penny schemes to fitch money from
the Industrious. hardworking Negro
Negro man and woman. The two
things seem to go together. And this
class of "money-getters" are the
greatest enemies of the Negro race
that have arisen in all Of its history
on continent. They are seeking to in
still in the Negro false view of his
situation and to stir up perpetual dis
content among the American Negroes
generally. They thrive on discomfort
N 1I.Ny
they infict upon their dupes. By
stirring up discomfort among the Ne
groes they serve also to arouse ele-
ments among the white people, which
are not representative of the average
in their attitude toward the Negro.
and the net result in the end is the
injury of the Negro race as whole.
The ideal which Booker Washing
ton help up for the Negro and which
is being promoted by hundreds of
humble followers in his footsteps in
the South is the true ideal for the
Negro to follow. 1t bids him to give
ment Of the race itself. and not bo-
Their about non-essential things. 1t
bids him become a better citizen, to
acquire skill in some field of labor
and by industry and thrift improve
his condition and the condition of
his family. 1t teaches him above
all that In such efforts he will al
ways receive the cooperation and
friendly counsel and help of the best
people among the white race. 1t
warns him against silly extravaganza
and foolish pretension such as these
Haunting advertisements invite him
If he is law-abiding, trustworthy, in
dustrious and thrifty he need have
no fear as to his relations with his
white neighbor, but on the contrary
will find in him his best friend.
That point of view is based solidily
on the foundation of fact The white
men who have lived among Negroes
all their lives have no hatred for
the Negro race. On the contrary
they have the kindliest feeling for the
Negro and take pleasure in helping
him when occasion arises. On the
other hand an ideal that bids the
Negro to improve himself and in
crease his earning power certainly
is higher than that which finds eX-
preston in the use of hair-straighten-
ers and face-bleachers. The one is
of solid substance. The other is a
snare for the unwary. The agita-
tors thrive on anti-lynching, politi-
cal and social equality propaganda,
and the only practical result of their
agitation is to make the relations be-
tween the races unfriendly and the
talk of the real friends of the Negro,
both white and black, more difficult
They serve to increase the very abus-
es against which they hurl their
trades. Indeed, their agitation has
reached such a point that at present
the best friends of the Negro in the
South tremble over the possible con-
sequences to the race if they persist
in their activities. 1t is such leaders,
as the author of this statement from
Austin who must be counted upon
to save the Negro in the South from
the consequences Of being misled
by these agitators. And in the long
run the Negro must follow such lead
ers if he is to prosper and be happy
and contented in this country.
IF Worth Star Teleoram