The Appeal., 1922-09-30
NAUSEATING.

- NAOS6A ING. .-s.
1t is nauseating to read the rot
given out by R. R. Motion, principal
OF Iuskegee, as he travels throuph
the South in jimcrow cars, stopping
now and then to make speeches laud-
ing his oppressors. If he were the
only one to suffer it would matter
little, but his words are promptly
telegraphed all over the country. and
every time he opens his mouth the
colored people of the entire country
7.nk lower in the minds of those who
read. Many Of his statements are
wholly without foundation in fact.
For instance in a recent lecture
before the students of the University
OF North Carolina, the wires saw he
said: "The Negro race has advanced
further than any similar number If
colored people anywhere on the globe
because 1t has had the privilege of
coming in contact with the white
people of the South" Could anv-
thing with a smaller amount of truth
and a greater amount of servilitv be
compressed into one sentence?
The census of Brazil shows that
there are about 100000 people
with more or less Negro blood in
tnat country, or nearly twice as manv
as there are in the United States.
according to census figures. And the
colored people of Brazil, although
they were once slaves and were not
emanclpated until 1883, a quarter of
century after Lincoln's proclama-
tlon, have advanced further than the
colored people in this country be-
cause they have reached the point
where color does not count. Thev
are absolutely free from any civil or
social determinations. The color line
does not exist in Brazil. and the
blacklist Brazilian is in everv wav
the peer of the whitest Of his
countrymen.
frlnclpal Motion deems it a wonder
tui thing that his race 'has had the
privilege of coming into contact with
the white people Of the South" Here
are some of the benefits of the con-
tact: Two hundred and fiftv wears
OF slaverj; enactment of the in
famous Black Codes to retain slavery.
in fact, after its abolition: segrepa-
tion; denial of living wages: denial
of equal school facilities; disfranchise.
ment; pmcrow cars, etcetera. Why
even Iuskegee In nstitute which fur
nlshes Principal Motion his bread. and
butter is the gift of the North.
Northern people have given 95 per
cent of the endowment fund, and the
greater portion of the running ex-
penses is begged in the North. The
state OF Alabama gives the measly
sum of about $4,000.
Here is another gem from Prin-
cipal Notion: "To the Southern white
people we owe our language and our
religion and all that we have learned
and all that we have advanced in
civilization" Think of man who
would say such things being the
head of an institution which trains
the youth. Is it strange that manv
of the students come out imbued
with distorted ideas of their proper
place in the world?
Then Principal Motion came out in
ms peroration in which he said that
mo Southern co1ored man wanted
social equality" In that statement
ne showed his ignorance of the Eng
lish language? He probably meant
to say that the colored people were
not seeking g matrimonial alliances
with white people. Principal Motion
may not wish social equality. but
there are millions of colored people
who do desire it. Social equality
means, Equality in the collective
BODY composing a community, espe-
ciaily when considered as subjects of
civil government" Here are some of
the definitions Of ''equal": of the
same degrees with another or each
other; uniform in condition or ac-
tion; of" just proportion or relation;
equitable, just, impartial, exact; of
the same Importance and concern;
not distinguished by any ground or
preference. ~, =,
Social equality means the right to
vote, the right to equal and identical
accommodations on common carriers.
the right to service in public places
OF refreshment and amusement. the
right to residence anywhere one is
able to buy or rent a home, the right
to attend the nearest public school,
the right to legal trial when
right which citizenship in a republic
charged with crime, and everv other
carries with it. =.
Principal Moton's dear friends of
the. South have denied all -of these
rights to the colored people, every
effort for advancement has been
fought, in one way or another, even
it conducted on jimcrow lines. The
purpose of the South always has been
and is now, to segregate the colored
people from other citizens and make
them pariah class, despised bv all
others, and subject to the whins and
caprices of a master class. In North
Carolina, where Principal Motion made
his speech, colored people are treat
ed as a group apart from the white
citizenship and subject to different
treatment. They have suffered from
all of the inequalities of citizenship.
Ihey have made progress not be-
cause of segregation, but in spite of
it. If the Southern white people
had not placed hindrances, including
murder, in their path, they would
have ere this reached the plane which
has been attained by the colored
people of Brazil.
Some of Principal Moton's activi-
ties in the past should not be for
gotten. Shortly after he succeeded
B. Washington as the head Of Tuske-
gee, his wife was elected from a
Pullman sleeper because she was
colored. According to the associated
press Motion made no attempt to, de
fend her, but stated that he had ad-
vised her not to attempt to ride in
a Pullman. just after the armistice
in the world war Principal Motion
was sent to France as the special
Of President Wilson.