Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1921-09-10
EDUCATION OF THE
NEGRO IN THE
NORTH
(KELLY MILLlGR.)

cannot earn II, Is one OF BOOkpr l..
Washington's most fe,icitous phrases.
This was an apt and accurate dcscrip.
ton ut the time of it's uttcrance. But
social upheavals Illustrate The wisdom
OF our profoundcst philosophers. The
war robbed this SentCntious assertion
OF IFS crstwhilo truth and oppositcucss.
IRE great educator had scarcely been
dead single gear, when Negroes by
the tens OF thousands were rushing
into tho North to fill the vacuum in
the labor market. The scale Of wages
seemed fabulous to the Negro work.
man, accustomed to the mcagcr conf
pensations in the South. The opror.
tunity to earn and to spend were avail
ed Of with equal avidity. AS result
'of this labor demand, fully Il half mil
lion Negroes were transferred from
the South to the North.
Economic opportunity constitutes
tho prevailing motive in the move
ment OF human population. Human
greed Is too hWity for immediate cM.
crete results to calculate the far reach
ing social consequences that follow In
tho train OF the introduction Of strange
population for purposes Of industrial
and economic expectation. The forcig
ner in America, the Negro in tho
South, and the Japanese in Hawaii
and on the west coast were introduc.
ed to fulfill urgent Mbor demands,
but their permanent social adjust.
ments constitute the grvo:H problems
of our national experience.
Fred Douglass used to say that
wherever the Negro goes he takes him
acnN wit I, Ia, ",
of half million Negroes into the
north will tend TO make the question
OF race adjustment Il national, rather
$than a sectional problem. The various
features of the prob!ec, vii. gain new
meaning and emphasis BECAUSE OF It's
RSwidespread relationships. The eGuca-
gtional significance Of this northern
movement of the Negro has hitherto
received little or no attention, and
yet it is calculated to be Of tho great.
est significance in the educational lifo
OF tho entire Negro race, and to influ.
; ence the attitude Of the whole nation.
According to reports Of the Census
Office, In 1920 there were 1,550,754 No
gross In the North, giving dccenninl
increase. of 472,41S over the census OF
1910. Tho great bulk of Negroes Ill
the North arc found I'm the cities. The
number of rural Negroes in tire north
d crn states has been gradually dimin-
isning for the past three decades. Tho
northern Negro creates All urban rath
or 'han n rural problem.
Twelve OF the cities show an
increase OF 1923, 430 or n growth Of 70
per cent. While this rapid growth was
due 10 special causes of limited con-
tinuance, yet the numbers are not
likely to diminish, but will show sub.
stantial increase with the coming de-
cades.
There are six cities in the U. S.
with more than 100000 Negroes
all of which with the single exception
or Now Orleans are to be found north
OF the Potomac River. The border
cities, washington, Baltimore, St.
Louis, and Kansas City have separate
co.ored schools, following the policy
or the southern states. In the other
cities on the list there is no legal
I, scholastic separation OF races. The
city Is the center Of tho educational
life OF the nation. The great systems
or education as we'll as the great seats
of learning are to be found mainly in
the centers OF population. A million
and half Negroes constituting Is per
cent of the race, are thus brought in
to Intimate contact with the best odu.
cational facilities to he found any.
where i'll the world. In the South the
Negroes are found mainly in the rur-
al districts, where school facilities
are moager and inadequate and even
III the large cities of this section the
provisions for co,ored schools fall woa
rully short of the up-to-Gate standards
or a wefl ordered system. In speak
ing or the education Of the Negro we
should always keep in mind the wide.
~ contrasted educational advantages
OF these two groups
Negroes in the North generally are
admitted to all educational facilities
provided for the general community.
whether supported by public funds or
based upon private foundation Tho
people OF the North have devotea
much Of their RESOURCES and philau.
thropic energy to the education Of
the Negro In the South, while giving
llttle or no consideration to the con-
tingent or the race within their midst.
me individual has been given an
equal chance in the genera. education
al provisions and has been expected
10 rise or TALL according 10 the mna.
ure or his oGn merit. The raridly fu.
creasing numbers focusing in the
large centers Of population will incyl.
tably call attention to the special needs
or this growing group separated in
many ways from the life of the com.
munity of which they FORM a part.
The colored children have not seem.
ed overeager to avail themselves nj;
the advantages provided for them.
! Ihey have not felt the necessity OF
thorough educational equipment Cor
the life tasks that lay within their
reach. Being confined to the mental
modes Of service they have not in largo
RUNNERS been inspired to enter upon
fhe higher reaches of education demand
fd III the more cXactine lines OF ser.
AYice. The eagerness Of the southern