The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1922-09-09
Strong Editorial uTance Of the Late John O. Adams, Militant Editor Rejecting
the Policies Which Made THE APPEAL Powerful Moud Of Public Opinion
REPRINTED FROM VARIOUS ISSUES

conditions in the United h States
There was no need for haste in an
nouncing his view on question which
could not have been studied properly
in the short time since he, in June
1921, announced his intention to do
owing to his many and pressing off
cial duties, and it seems that the
President has taken advantage of an
opportunity and thrust his views upon
the public ear, for the purpose of ere
ating sentiment in favor of his ideas
on the. subject, which were evidently
obtained from individuals and books
favorable to the South but inimical tc
the real interests of the colored PEG.
pie. 49,. !
The President enormously. con.
Pounds "social equality" with amalga.
nation. He says that a1malgamatior
cannot be, but it exists, it has always
existed and always will exist. The
combined efforts of the law and pub.
lie opinion have failed to prevent The
mixing of the races. Throughout the
ages there has been so much racia,
mixing that today the scientists and
ethnologists agree that there is nc
such thing as a pure race. In nc
other country on the globe has there
been more racial mixing than in the
United States which is the melting
pot Of the world. The majority OF
the people of the United States are
mixtures of various races and the
greater part Of this majority is com.
posed of people with more or less
Negro blood. The racial mixing in
the South is almost wholly illegitimate
as the laws make marriage between
the races a crime.
Is Now as to social equality, that ex-
lists in some part of the United
States and it is only in those parts
Of the country which have more OF
less of social equality that the colored
people have any rights which the
white people respect. The very words
social equality" imply that all rights
are secure. In the. South there is
neither equality nor respect for rights
The contempt for the colored man is
largely due to his inferior social
status, which extends through all hu.
man relationships in that benighted
section of the country. Even at the
speech of the President the colored
people were segregated and the dis
patches say, "In the white section
there was a silence which was abso-
lutte and stony, only one light futte1
of applause came when the President
said, "The Negro should be encour-
aged to be the best possible Negro
and not the best possible imitation Of
the white man." This seemed ia
please a few Of the whites who evi-
IDENTIFY visioned a "good Negro" OF
slavery days, who hat in hand bowed
low when "ole massa" approached.
The South has queer idea of So
cial equality. In the North "social
equality" in its narrow sense, init
mate social mingling in private house
parties, dances, pink teas, etc. In
the South the idea is distorted SO that
it includes civic rights, hence the jim
crow car, the jimcroW school, the
jimcrow library, the jimcrow park, the
jimcrow telephone booth and so on ad
|nauseam.
When Harding was candidate for
President, THE APPEAL doubted
that he would give colored people q
square deal and was not disposed to
support him but we were treasured
by letters signed by Chairman Hays
and Secretary Miller and many lead
ing Republicans, as well as the Jim
crow campaign bureau that he woull
be just to his allies. Also Editor VIII.