The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1919-06-28
THE NEGRO, FOREIGN AND NATIVE


Recently there have appeared in
reputable magazines and rescripts in
the Metropolitan dailies recitals of
the superior virtues of the non-Ameri-
can born Negro. Instead of a reflec-
ton this is a compliment to the home
product. For the descendants of the
American born Negro slaves who know
anything about the inside history of
his slave ancestors admit and deny
not that they did not spring from the
purest and freest streams of African
blood but that they had already sub
mitted to slavery before they we're
wrested from African soil. Only here
and there did warrior kidnapped or
| overpowered by slave hunters allow
himself to be landed on foreign soil
alive. But even these had for an ex-
ample not only that peculiarly endow.
ed race that produced the author Of
the commandments as well as the
author of the beautitudes but also
] that no less inspired but highly gifted
race that produced Puidar.
Now if the descendants of the off
more than two centuries of revolving
American slavery could on the very
eve of freedom produce that wonder
full heroine. Sojourner Truth or that in
comparable orator, Samuel Ringgold
or that peerless grand man eloquent,
Frederick Douglass and within
generation, produce that matchless
| al
ington. If these descendants up to
this time prefer to suffer. to serve and
to learn rather than to sulk to destroy
and to ruin they do not deem it a
matter of jealousy or envy that their
foreign brothers are able to reveal
superior traits but a matter of rejoic
ing.
However these descendants have
proved by physical examination given
b ythe ruling class and by bravery un.
der command of this same ruling class
a physical condition superior to and
a bravery unsurpassed by this ruling
class.
Therefore repeat that these encom-
iums to the foreign Negro are not re-
Elections but compliments to the Amer
lean born Negro, on the contrary, at
the same time a matter of disparage.
ment to the race of the panegyrist
which his own statistics prove has
been eclipsed by the native egro pro
duct at least in physique and valor, if
not in letters.
But the American Negro did not
] a ho Of 30, oil
Negroes to hearken to the distress of
the land of his birth and to display his
intrepid bravery. For we find in the
War of 1912 General Jackson, after,
ward President, in Louisiana in 1914
recognized the Negroes worth in these
words: Through a mistaken policy
YOU have heretofore been denied
of natural rights in which this coun
try is engaged This shall no longer
exist. AS sons of freedom you are
now called upon to defend our most
inestimable blessing As Americans
our country looks upon her adopted
children for valorous support, as a
faithful return for the advantages en-
joyed under her mild equitable govern
ment. AS fathers. husbands and
brothers, you are summoned to rally
around the standard of the Eagle, to
defend all of which is most dear in
existence. Due regard will be paid to
the feelings of freemen and soldiers
You will not by being associated with
white men in the same corps, be eX
posed to improper comparison or sar
casm. AS a distinct battalion or regi
ment pursuing the path of glory you
will undivided receive the applause
and gratitude of your countrymen. TIC
assure you of my sincerity and my an
Xiety to engage your invaluable ser
vices to this country, ! have com
municated my wishes to the Governor
of Louisiana who is fully informed as
TO the manner of enrolment and will
! give you any necessary information
on the subject of this address" Page
76 Missing Pages in American His
tory, Laura f. Wilkes, 1414 Franklin
ST., Washington, d. c. How General
Jackson must have turned in his grave
when he read Gen. Ballou's Camp Fun
ston order and his order on his arriva
in France to the descendants of the
L men he addressed?
, In her book of 81 pages Miss Wilkes
has faithfully recorded the military
doings of the American Negro from
. 164l-1S15. Most, if not all of which fint
no place in the school books of the
, American youth or in the more serious
histories of grown-ups. Miss Wilkes
u spent six years in studious search fol
these facts in colonial and state rec
D ords.. They also give glimpses Of
aid Haiti rendered the Colonies no
: only in the Revolutionary War but tn,
states in 1912. This tribute to blacl
d men is not only interesting, inspiring
5 and fascinating but absolutely tru
! and is verified by accurate reference
e to the sources,
Miss Wilkes was born in Washing
ton, D, C. The death of her mother a.
ter the birth of her brother early d'