Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1922-06-17

homo or Lincoln, Atlanta, TulSl,
Gainesville in Pennsylvania and other
cities have been the scenes of race
riots resulting in the killing Of Negro
es, tho destruction Of property belong
ing to them, and outrages against them
of every kind. The authorities have
been prompt to blame the Negroes, but
one has only to compare the losses "
life or property suffered by whites with
those inflicted on Negroes to see who
: were tho aggressors. In no case has
the punishment been adequate to dis.
courage such disorders The authorities
never seem to have been in dead earn
est.
: Now the feeling which prompts thes.
outbreaks has organized, Il society pro
Tossing determination to uphold law
and order, but which among It's objects
names the preservation Of "white ST.
premacy." It considers the law made
Quate and proposes to condemn and
override it by dealing out what it calls
Justice directly. Its purposes are car
ricd out by'diSguised and masked men.
which practice condemns the whole so.
ciety, for no man who Is doing any
thing Of which he is proud resorts to
disguise. Masks are the shields OF
criminals
The excuse offered for these barbar-
ties is dealt with by South Carolina
gentleman. Archibald Rutlcdge in the
"Iandmark" Of March, 1922. Ho says:
II was born and have lived on q
plantation in South Carolina where
there are scores Of Negro families. .
What i know Of the Negro have learn
cd from intimate and. trust. Sympa-
thctic, contact with him during nearly
forty years.
or the menace Of the Negro man to
the white woman it is possible dispns
si0natcly to speak This crime is sup
posed to be rampant in the South AS
matter Of fact, it is excessively rare;
and that in the face Of the double pro.
vocation Of the outnumbering Gin
many places Of the whites by the Ne.
grocs, and the somewhat general lone
Illness Of the country. Yot In many
counties such 4 crime has never occurr
ell. In many wide sections it IS not
even feared. Where there arc upwards
OF ton million people Of one race, it IS
reasonable to expect 4 few degcnerates
ana such persons are found. But am
willing to maintain that they commit
the crime OF rape not because they are
black, but because they are degenerate
human beings.f No man can do the
Negro worse. more cruel injustice
than to regard him as essentially an
incipient and inherent rapist. Thos.
who hold this view do not know his
tory'-much less tho Negro. For when
! the four million slaves were freed in
1863 and were suddenly and wildly al
forded every opportunity to attack tho
Families Of their former masters WHO
were fighting at the front, they behav
ed-well. do not think 1t is toe
| much to say that they behaved like
gentlemen. for one shall always re-
member that fact to the everlasting
credit of the American Negro"
The men upon whom these outrages
are visited are citizens Of the United
! States. When the country engaged In
war 1t called them into it's armies and
sent them to risk and often lose their
lives on the plains of France. They
were taxed to pay the expenses Of the
war and the other public charges. All
the burdens Of citizens rest upon them
but they are denied the essential rights
Of citizens.
No one for a moment can pretend
that this situation can he defended.
Ono tenth Of our people are too import
ant factor In our national life to be
trampled upon with impunity. Every.
enc can tell how they feel by asking
himself how he would feel were he anu
his race exposed to such treatment,
and he can imagine what the end must
DC II the government which he served
could not or would not protect him
against 1t. The attempt legally to hold
{ In slavery four million men cost us a
civil war IN which the best white blood
or the nation was spilled in rivers. We
may ask ourselves what must be the re
suit Of trampling upon the rights OF
ten million citizens. The present state
Of things cannot endure. It is a dis.
grace to the country and ruinous to
white and black alike.
Lynching has been criminal under
State laws from the beginning, but it
IS disgrace to the country and ruin
has mover been treated as such. For
more than generation mob-murders
nave been going on and murderers
nave gone unpublished. Every State
has abundant law against these crimes
, but the law has not been enforced and
inc public has been content. They have
elected prosecutors, judges, governors,
and the whole official force of the State
but these officers have not acted, and
no public opinion has forced them to
40 their duty. No action by the states
is to be expected, and the debates owe.
this bill in the House of Representatiy
es and the speeches made by those who
represent states where the crime Is
common show that stoppage of the
practice is not desired by their people
ihat nynchers need fear no punish
ment is well-recognized as appears
/ from the words Of Henry Watterson:
Lynching should not be misconstrued
1t Is not an effort to punish crime. It ia
sport which has as it's excuse the
TACT that crime. Of greater or less
gravity, has been committed or ia al.
legged. A lynchfng party rarely is made
up or citizens indignant at the laws
delays or failures. It often is made m
OF mob bent upon diversion, and pro
ceedlng in, a mood OF rather frolic-
some ferocity. to have thoroughly
good time. I,vnchorc oro MI .>.,....