* THE NEGRO THROUGH ORIENTAL EYES *

CONTENTS

Pages

<table><tr><td>PREFACE</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>The White American</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>The Negro American</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>YELLOW MAN LOOKS AT A BLACK WORLD (Introductory Lines)</td><td>8</td></tr></table>

<table><tr><td>Article ONE</td><td>Inferiority and Superiority of Races</td><td>17</td></tr><tr><td>"TWO</td><td>The Step Child Looks at America</td><td>27</td></tr><tr><td>"THREE</td><td>Negro Progress since 1863</td><td>36</td></tr><tr><td>"FOUR</td><td>Tuskegee Institute and Its Influence</td><td>43</td></tr><tr><td>"FIVE</td><td>Segregation: Railway Passengers</td><td>49</td></tr><tr><td>"SIX</td><td>Unorganized Tenth Man (Education)</td><td>55</td></tr><tr><td>"SEVEN</td><td>Dignity of a Race (Negro Press)</td><td>64</td></tr><tr><td>"EIGHT</td><td>The Blue-Sky Meets the Deep-Sea (Mixed blood)</td><td>73</td></tr><tr><td>"NINE</td><td>The Negro Woman</td><td>84</td></tr><tr><td>"TEN</td><td>The N. A. A. C. P.</td><td>98</td></tr><tr><td>"ELEVEN</td><td>The Present Leadership</td><td>111</td></tr><tr><td>"TWELVE</td><td>The Negro Student</td><td>124</td></tr><tr><td>"THIRTEEN</td><td>Beyond the Horizon</td><td>138</td></tr><tr><td>"FOURTEEN</td><td>The Next Step</td><td>151</td></tr><tr><td>"FIFTEEN</td><td>Outlook</td><td>169</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>THE SOUL OF BLACK GOES MARCHING ON (After-Thought)</td><td>197</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Reference notes</td><td>202</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Acknowledgements</td><td>204</td></tr></table>

PREFACE

To present the American Negro through the telescopic eyes of the
Orient is the purpose of this book.

Ever since the forefathers of the American Negro stepped upon the
shore at Jamestown, Virginia in 1619, it has taken the Negro in
the New World one and one-half centuries to be recognized by the
white man, as worth three-fifths of one white man in counting as
the voting value for the benefit of the latter; this was at the
time of the Declaration of Independence of the United States. It
took the Negro another three quarters of a century to gain the
remaining two-fifths to become the equal of one white man -- in
name only; this was in 1863, the result of Abraham Lincoln's
Proclamation of Emancipation when the Negro become the 'freedman'
-- not Free Man. The following three quarters of a century, that
is, the past three quarters of a century, has been the period of
experiment, education, struggle, and the fight to gain the full
freedom and equality, in reality, and to enjoy it as the white man
dies. The American Negro has not yet attained this goal. Hence
the Negro Problem of today.

Today, the American Negro is called "THE TENTH MAN" to indicate the
proportion of his physical strength to the population of the United
States. From the point of view of progress of the American Negro,
however, this word "Tenth Man" signifies nothing -- except that in
some cases the Negro is receiving today a somewhat similar proportion
of emergency treatment when he presents himself to Uncle Sam. Accord-
ing to a white woman who gave her life to the cause of the advance-

Preface - 3.

After reading the book, most people will agree with the author that the original title was perhaps better suited to the work than the present one. Before reading, however, the word "CROW" will be regarded as objectionable from the Negro's point of view. That was the reason of changing the title. By killing the "CROW", however, the author also had to kill "THE CANARY" -- together with, of course, the implication of what he tried to signify by the word. The implication was this: After all "THE CANARY" was a Canary. She was to sing in the cage that belonged to the household of Uncle Sam. She was not a wild Canary; neither should she sing wildly. Throughout the book, the author has kept this in consideration. That was the reason why he refrained, where possible, from using words or sentences that might catch the emotional fire of the readers. For instance, the author has frequently mentioned lynchings; yet in no case has he described either the horrible nature or scene of the crime. If he wanted to do so the author had plenty of materials at his command, but that belonged to another type of work. Needless to say, however, by identifying himself as the domesticated Canary, the author was not willing in the slightest degree, to sacrifice either his honest opinion or his frank statement.

This book will eventually be presented to Japan in the Japanese language. In fact it was the original intention of the author to do this work first in Japanese. The reason he took the reverse cause is that he wanted to do justice to both races of whom he was to treat. If this work were first presented in Japanese, the author was quite sure that he would not be able to receive a fair criticism because it would belong to the field of pioneer work. Whereas in the present form, despite the handicap of his poor English, the author would offer at least the opportunity to receive the criticism, favorable or otherwise, from both sides of the color-line -- white

Preface - 4.

and black. The author will certainly be grateful to hear any crit-
icism so that he will be able to correct his mistakes and write a
better book for his home folk in the Orient.

When Mr. Isamu Noguchi, a Japanese sculptor, exhibited his work at
the "Exhibition on Lynching" that took place in New York in 1935,
"THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY" in its editorial commented on the Japanese
participation as "a wholesome medicine" for the Americans. It is
not the purpose of the author to prescribe a bitter or a sweet
medicine with this volume: it is, instead, to make an effort to
contribute a healthy SOMETHING to mix with the thought for honest,
straight-forward thinking Americans, both white and black.

It is hoped that the reader, after passing through the Japanese
material which will be found in this volume, will arrive at the
author's observation post and peep through his telescope -- to
share the author's view point. Whether he will agree with the
author or not, is, of course, an entirely different question.

Y. H.

New York
May 1936.

Preface - 2.

ment of the American Negro, he was only "HALF MAN" at the beginning
of the present century. How much has he gained or lost since then?
Is the American Negro advancing or retreating today? The answers
to these questions are many and varied: On one point, however, all
agree. That is, that the place at which he is standing today is
far behind that of the white man. What has been, and what is the
responsible cause or causes for this situation? This is the focal
point of the Negro Problem today. Where is the way out, and where
will the American Negro be standing at the end of the next three
quarters of a century? To seek an answer, if not the answer, to
this vital question, most of the Negro leaders, as well as the
white persons who are interested in this problem, are facing a
misty, dark horizon.

In the present volume, therefore, the author has made an effort to
contribute _A VIEW POINT_ upon the American Negro Problem. As an
onlooker, from afar, the author has continued his interest in this
subject for the past ten years. But, this work should not be taken
as a 'scientific' discussion or an interpretation of the Negro
question in the United States.

The paragraphs--from "THE BLACK MAN" by William Wells Brown, an
eminent Negro scholar and historian of the Nineteenth Century--
with which the author has opened his first article in this book
was immediately followed by the paragraphs with which he has closed
the book. There was not a single line between these two quations.
The author has, however, tried to squeeze-in between the two lines:--
"Development makes the man"...and..."As the Greeks, and Romans,
and Jews drew knowledge from the Egyptians..., so must the blacks
of this land rise in the same way".

The original title of this book was: THE CANARY LOOKS AT THE CROW.