The New York herald., 1922-12-24

negro problem in the HERALD of December
II is an admirably courageous statement
Of the case for the negro. which he has
also presented. eloquently. in his fine novel,
"Nigger." but. as 1 ventured to suggest in
my review of that book. it leaves a good
deal to be said: not in eontraventiOn of
Mr.. Woods diagnosis. but by way Of sup
plement, or possible alternative to the un-
happy conclusions that may be drawn from
his essay. His statements Of fact are /
think. beyond question. The negro has
met, and is meeting. injustice; there is no
room for argument as TO the need of bet
ter treatment for him. economically. So
cally and politically. The white. man is
ready with his peccdTi, and realizes that
the sins-or. better. the mistakes-of the
fathers must still be expiated through
many generations. But does it follow that
this must produce. ultimately, a complete
mingling of the races? Must we, in order
to aid the negro TO lift himself up, ask
him to marry into the family?
]. for one. cannot look forward 10 a
chocolate-colored human race with eaua-
nimity. hope for a better world than that
could be. for my children's children. And
think there are still many Americans
old fashioned enough to believe in the
Value-and possibility-of racial purity
Further. I claim. emphatically that there
Is such an aggregate human entity as the
fneptly labelled AnglO-Saxon race in spite
of the sneers which often greet that term
to-day. and in spite OF the doctrines of
hair-splitting scientific anthropologists
And upon the continued dominance Of that
race depends the future of these United
States. 1t may be overwhelmed, drowned
in the rising tide of COLOR and other
lowering elements. but IL that happens the
result win be destructive. The point is
worth some elaboration, since 1t is fashion,
able to deny the existence OF such a race
Mr.. Wood quotes DIR. Manoel de Oil
viera Lima of Brazil to the effect that
pure races are historical error" and Mr.
Wood himself asks: What is a white
man? What is negro? Where does the
one end and the other begin?" We are
constantly being reminded that the anglo
saxon" Of to-day is very mixed creature
with many various strains In his blood
That is, Of course. all quite true. from the
historical and anthropologicaI viewpoint.
None the less. everyone knows precisely
what is meant when we venture to speak
OF the Anglo-SaXOn (Anglo- Norman would
be much more nearly correet) and Of his
traditions. his ideals. and his ways OF
thinking and acting The connotations of
the term are not obscure Indeed the
type has been fairly fixed for centuries
at least since the days of Elizabeth and
many Of its roots run back to the meeting
OF the barons at Runnymede II is a liv-
ing. enduring cultural group. as individual
as the Jew or the Spaniard.
prefer the term English thinking
peoples to denote it. That is broad
enough to include its representatives every
where. in Canada New Zealand. Australia.
as well as in Great Britain and in the large
remnant Of still unmongrelized citizens
OF the United States: men and women. who
think and act upon much the same motives
as did their ancestors OF four centuries
age. TO go no further back And that
term. English thinking. definitely excludes
many who speak English. perhaps as their
only language. but who none the less feel
and act as did their Oriental or African
forebears a thousand-or five thousand
years ago.
II is fatuous. little more than quibblng
with words, to deny the existence OF an
English thinking race. The same civiliz-
ing forces that produced a Sir Philip Sid
ney can give US. to-day. a Leonard Wood.