The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1920-07-03
NEGROES AT HOME AND
ABROAD.

ABROAD.
The negro in his native habitat,
spiritually considered, is enjoying
the luxuries Of religion, while his
descendants who migrated to
America under compulsion some
centuries ago are starving in the
midst Of plenty. At home the col
ored man has the ministrations of
various bands of missionaries: St.
Peter Claver society scours the
world for help that the African
negro may be given the consola-
lions of the faith; Propaganda has
it's noble men and women laboring
for his welfare; the White Fathers
and Sisters dedicate their whole
lives and energies to his care; the
Missionaries from Lyons immediate
themselves on the West Coast that
the black man may know and love
Jesus Christ.
But the negro in America That
is another story. He may visit
the large centers of Catholicity in
our country and wonder at our
splendid temples Of worship and
our great colleges and Jealous
clergy and glorious pageants and
congresses of well meaning resolu-
tion-makers; he may assist at
striking ceremonies and OCCASION
ally see his name mentioned in our
more or less effete Catholic press
should he so care, he may also
visit the various foreign centers,
and there will he behold German
priests working among German
immigrants: Polish, Slav, French,
Irish, Lithuanian and other priests
are doing wonderful work for God
and country in tending to the
wants of their own people; even
the Italians are sometimes given
attention by men Of their own
tongue.
Now, all these reflections and
sights must stir within the soul of
the negro rather curious emotions.
In all these circumstances he is
an outsider: few, if any, seem to
realize that he has soul at all.
Socially he is summed; politically
he is useful as a vote; in respect
to religion he would be far better
cared for by the Catholic Church
were he back in his native jungle,
arrayed in the primitive loin-cloth
Of his race, climbing trees and
playfully tossing cocoanuts at the
ever-elusive monkey. In that
state he would be sought out by
the jealous men and women
whose only care and thought in
the world is his welfare and saliva
ton. He would also meet many
OF his own race and color who
have dedicated themselves to a
work of love and mercy towards
him.
Even from the political stand
point the negro is here longer
than the majority of nationalities
who are now so affectionately be-
ing "Americanized' and stopped
over by so many senseless idiots.
But the poor negro has scarcely a
friend. Let him give way to low
err passion in his coarse way and
the ready moose quickly finds him
out. On the other hand, his white
brother may be guilty Of the same
crime many times over; but the
white man is more refined in his
degeneracy, and the world and
the press speak Of these white
crimes merely as ''indiscretions. -
And so the poor negro is not
only ostracized: he becomes the
scapegoat on every occasion. This
is not said to justify his crime: It
is rather to show the unjust dis
elimination that is practiced
towards him. Let the black man
commit an outrage Of this kind,
and the lynchers are on his heels
with blood hounds: let so-called
respectable white men conduct
veritable harems in our midst, anC!
a mere light fine, without loss of
dignity, is the slap on the wrist
that is administered to him.
Is it not time that something
real be done for the negro in our
midst? Is it not time that Mgr.
Burke and his handful of heroic
workers be backed up by united
Catholicity for the uplift, moral
and spiritual, Of the twelve million
negroes in this country? The ne
gro will love the priest Of his own
color when that priest appears to
him in the guise Of an apostolic