The St. Paul echo., 1926-03-20
A Note on the New Literary Achievement

1t be expected that the present literary
preston among Negroes should develop gosquees and
in certain distorted of values Some of these dangers
it worth pointing out pecaution against ultimate
establishment among the Negroes themselves For if this awa
enng be sound wholesome of growth rather
than fad to be discarded in few it must somehow be
the shortghed expoers of sentiment from
the modeate and premaurey triumphant who think that
Negro writers have fully arrived from those superficial
ebate with and admission the WRITER'S who
establishing by acceptance double standard of competence
substitute for the normal rewards of study and practice and
many instances lack of talent.
The assumption back of this whole is that these
Negro WRITER'S long enced by overwhelming environment
beginning to find their voices The that they
receiving from established writer's gracious valuable aid
to this expression But this does not that simply because
they Negroes they sing sptuas write
dance nsnctivey it does not that this
prise and commentator from the great recognition
of full admission the status of foremost American artists and
WRITER'S does that the standard of work to be quail
fled the that they Negroes and being dsadvantaged
entitled to larger rewards Dr. Johsons comparison of
ministers the dog that walked it's hind legs gives
point to the double standard of expectation to be avoided here
all hazards What made the dog remarkable he thought not
much that could walk it's hind legs well but that could
walk on its hind legs at all.
One very good example of the acceptance this double
dard the belief certain of recent writer's that the fact of
being Negro condones medocry of accomplishment and that
there sufficient virtue in being the best Negro writer They
boast the notable contracts possible when white of similar
talents would be lost in the competition of the white world
The notion while it has its pleasant possibilities has ee
ment of grave danger in it.
fields letters are fortunately ones which
hold racial limitations for Negroes and theoretically there
why talent developed should not make itself felt Roland
Hayes the best Negro singer before he began the long and
logged training of his voice. He the greatest artist by virtue of
it, of Americas foremost singers and does not rely racial
sentiment and cultural philanthropy alone for acceptance
Negro who merely the best Negro DOCTOR metaurgs
chemist is in the position of Hcves greatest actor who
to New York 1t species of secheang which eventually
nures The danger similar to that pracced from the other
side by certain planhp teachers in mixed schools who
have been known to mark ordinary Negro students according to
effort rather than performance the brief that it would be
just their smaller capacities grade them with the gor
applied to white Students This both Injuries and deudes the
Negroes book poem bad mediocre is bad and should
not beckon for the shroud of race to redeem it.
The next step must be adjustment the standards of
American writer's Until the product of Negro writer's be
measured by the yastick that applied all other writ
ell that this implies
Opportunity Magazine.