Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1919-08-30

from Egypt were able to do for they
were not able to get theirs before the
Peace Conference"
Taking blanket shot at Negro
leadership in general Mr.. Ransom
reinforced his argument with the
following: "But l tell you what has
happened. The time has como when
the great mass of the Negro people
everywhere has repudiated the pro-
fessional Negro leader" Tho peo-
pie at large arc waking up and are
thinking for themselves"
The speaker at this point divided
his discussion Of tho great Overshad-
owing Issue into four sections and
spoke under spell Of wrapt atten-
ton from the audience of enthused
thousands who at times were wrought
to such II pitch that DR.. Ransom had
to hold up his hand for silence in
order to finish his lecture.
First. "Tho first thing involved in
this great issue is The Right to Work
and to Enjoy the Fruit of Your Toll,
Now everything depends upon that.
1t is plain, simple elementary right.
! mean the right to work as an Amer
lean citizen anywhere and at any
q.
America has opened her doors and
said to the people of the ends of the
earth, Comic in. Well, we are already
in
Mr.. Ransom to prove his claim
that the Negro is qualified to work
anywhere mentioned Mr.. Hundlcy,
whom he said is responsible for the
development Of the cash register in
&c
man. The private secretary to the
president Of one of our great rail
roads. said the speaker, is not a col
ored man. He is black man.
Second. "The second is, The Oucs
ton Of Education. That is to say.
that education shall be equal for. all
the children. If you are satisfied
with less, you are not the kind Of,
an American father you ought to be.
There is something coming to You,
brother. Why do I say this? Ev-
erything is based on it. We Just as
we'll get this straight now. We say
We Will lot the Italians come. We
have five hundred thousand Italians
in New York City. We have five
hundred thousand Russian Jews in
New York City. let them all come.
And we say we will take the chill
dren of the Americans and will put
the children of the foreigners in the
free public schools of America. The
next generation will come ND full
nedgcd Americans. Now, then, how
can you ten or twelve or fifteen mil
lion or whatever you are, American
Negroes hold your place? You talk
f.,f l.
is its future? It's future is bound
up in the school house"
Third. Equal Protection Of tho
Law-+Absolute. Say that the black
criminal will be absolutely certain
that he is going to get his just de
serts for his crime whether it be the
penitcntiary or the gallows, and that
the white criminal will be equally
certain OF the same fate. Our atti-
tudc on this question is because of
the uneasincss that now ovcrhangs
thls nation. And [ want to say to
you that anybody who plays with the
question Of race conflicts in this hour
is playing with fire and when you
are handling inllammables you had
better be careful how you handle it.
The whole thing is bound ND in
inc question of equal protection of
inc law. | blame in part the Negro
leaders IN this. If it should occur
In RIchmond, and I do not believe
IL Will, or in any community, the
thing for the leaders to do would be
to let he police officials know. 1ct
the government know, that your pol
ICY or going around dsarming the
Negro VIII have to be stopped.
me Negroes in no community are
gong TO start riot. Nobody thinks