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Full text of "Essay, No point of attack is too insignificant to be overlooked in the general assault which is being made along the line upon Americans of African descent…"

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Ho  point  of  Attn  ok  is  too  insigni  ficmt  to  bo  overlooked 
in  1 : c "!  ; a*  ;t  It  ' -),i  c . . i;  tel  V f.lor.r  t ;o  lino  up- 

on  ,m  Orleans  of  frier r descent,  ,.1'!  the  resources  of  i so  1 shorn - 

vOJty  ?5  J?  ^c;  .1.  - . FI  i*'"  ts  ii  k>fuf  / csa  u bsi-'  brO'll'.t  I n .0  fCw  II  t j i 


4»4«1 * ^ 

V«i  w 


furnish  material  for  these  attacks.  The  avowed  purpose  of  t >&t c 
assault  a la  to  discredit  thorn  Amor  loans  as  "ten  and  citisons,  ? ~ •• 
to  ive  ro”e  shador  of  jnsti flection  to  the  general  attitude  of  in- 
difference and  contempt  in  which  the;;  aro  hold. 


One  of  the  latest y®ir yj^nights  to  rtush  to  the  charge^ in  the 

f»  * 5 ^ 

rem-rcl  interests  of  -hita  supremacy  and  nnr ori ori ty  a gainst  t h#/f 

unh;  ppy  ’’naturally  inferior"  body  of  those  Americans  whose  ancestry 

dates  variously  to  the  Thames  and  the  Lhine,  the  Mger  and  the  Tile, 

is  ro feasor  illlms  Ttrrr  . yore  who  hr  11s  from  rinceton  Tniversity. 

L i e irresponsible  outgivings  on  the  race  question  will  be  better 

understood  in  t o light  of  this  fact.  rinceton  ig  a southern  school 

on  northern  soil.  To  errro  student t however  wel’  prepared,  has  ever 

shared  the  doubtful  distinction  of  being  remitted  to  matriculate  in 

Its  court  on.  <o  true  spirit  of  hncrican  tmocmey  has  never  por- 

vreed  its  classic  shades.  It  has  much  the  spirit  of  the  tiger^— - 

that  strined  leapt  of  nrc  ?fcich  ir  Its  bright  emblem.  rinceton 

o 

has  eve-  lifts’  up  the  tiger  in  the  face  of  heaven  j but  ns  we  now 

recall,  a figure  of  t ,.i©  bea  st  wit  h fang  and  claw  adorns  the  Zaftl- 

' / 

eat  spire  of  the  chief  plr.ee  of  Itr.  devotions.  To  less  personage 
than  ti.e  honorable  , oodror  ilnon,  gegregationallst  # pledge-brer  her 
and  resident  of  t e United  dtatoe  wn®  once  the  official  head  of 
thie  institution  where  the  true  university  otnonphorc  1©  stifled 


— 


by  th©  spirit  of  slavery . 

. ro feasor  illlain  ftsrr  ycrs  of  rinceton  delivered  nn 
address  on  the  Path  of  iefcrunry  in  the  hco&eay  of  nslc,  Brooklyn, 
which  bristles  with  mlechleTous  and  erroneous  sinter onto  in  r«i- 
ard  to  aericans  of  ..friesn  descent.  rdinnrily,  statements  bo 
Hsrnlfestly  grot  esquo  and  erroneous  nr  © not  worthy  of  public  no- 
tice. tut  hie  ill-considered  outgivings  having  fou  ,d  voice  in  th© 
public  press,  it  1b  felt  that  none  attention  should  bo  given  the**. 

2 he  Honorable  ’Sunset"  Cor,  who  spent  rone  time  in  ' urkey, 
said  tint  one  evening  he  henrn  the  tinkle  of  silver^  belle  coning 
down  the  mounts  inside.  It  acemed  to  connd  so  weird  in  that  unnatural 
piece,  but  his  rear,  muring  guide  informed  him  that  it  was  nothing 
but  the  muleteer  returning,  and  the  sound  was  the  grand  diapason 
of  the  jackasses.  This  diapason  again  pcrnled  forth  on  the  f!Pth 
of  February  when  rofeseor  lilllam  f tarr  flyers  openod  hie  mouth  and 
Broke  from  this  platform  in  the  music  hall  of  the  Academy  of  nsic. 
for©  of  the  fiercest  prowls  and  shrieks  which  escaped  from  this 
v uld-he  teacher  who  wandered  from  the  lair  of  the  tiger  at  /rtnee- 
ton  nre; 

" In  the  large  eastern  a tries  the  death-rate  among  egro 
children  under  5 years  of  ago  is  go')  out  of  every  lio).  '"he  Kegro 
race  Its  Increasing  in  numbers,  but  not  as  rapidly  as  the  white 
race.  f 

* . legro  physician  whom  i know  allowed  r.  child  to  die  a few 
d-  ye  ago  because  ho  could  not  diagnose  a simple  case  of  diphtheria. " 

" The  Pallet  and  whiskey  arc  the  two  great  curses  of  the  3 .©- 
gro  race. * 

" The  passing  of  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  woe  « great  mistake." 


" The  Kogro  race  is  not  merely  a backward  race,  it  is  an 
inferior  rn ©e.  ’ 


iie  said  thnt  a ' puny  ©.Vs  Christian  * ssociation  lender 
of  Brooklyn  "recently  cat  looted  that  98  '’  o?  all  logro  r on  are  im- 
moral, end.  that  the  proportion  of  immoral  legro  rroron  ir  non  rly 

ae  great.” 


i e find  that  aside  from  those  ’who  died  from  natural  causes,  49  "e- 
rroefi  ©re  put  to  death  by  mobs  Those  spirit  of  violence  is  in- 
spired by  jaat  each  outgivings  r-p  these  uttered  by  hyers,  the 


the  death-rate,  the  colored  people  of  the  United  states  are  ob- 
serving thin  reek  a national  health  eok;  but  the  facta  do  not 
prove  trnt  the  death-rate  anon.:  ©gross  in  increasing.  fortunate- 

ly for  ns,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  government,  n 
bulletin  war.  issued  on  the  noth  of  this  month  by  "illlais  * . Karris, 

T i rector  of  the  Census,  apartment  of  Conn ©roe,  regarding  mortality 
among  heroes.  The  data  *ae  taken  from  the  e istration  . .m  of  the 
Unite  tstes  nr.d  cor  -in  selected  states.  his  data,  sccordir 
to  t bulletin  of  the  United  tates  Census,  shovs  that  «hil©  the 
d ath-rate  anon,  h ©gross  in  10(  ens  £9.4  f,  that  in  191  it  *?*■• 

?6.fc/  , decrease.  ;•  rofesaor  iyers*  wild  statement  a- out  th©  d eath- 


fortamatelg*  the’  death-rate  nor.:  Kegroea  is  too  hi  h 


P_.__  . --  fro«  this  platform 


the  fact  that  something  must  ho  done  to  decreae© 


rate  of  Sc, --pro  children  rill  not  stand  in  the  It  rye  eastern  states. 


2otal  I'.ogro 

T«r  1000 

J ecr.  over 

teat  hr, 

12£- 

revi ran  “ccade 

Bel  tin:  ore,  id. 

191  > 

2,597 

3, . 6 

2.9  per  cent 

Boston,  »ft as. 

1910 

317 

26.9 

3.6  " 

Charleston,  *C. 

1910 

l.rsi 

39.3 

6.1  ‘ 

Chloago,  111* 

1910 

1,075 

24.5 

.7  " " Inc 

Jaehsonville,  la. 

1910 

710 

24 

8.0  " 

Jersey  City,  ...  .... 

1910 

n r*or 

20.5 

1.9  " 

Borough  of  .,n n. 

1910 

1,473 

24.2 

10 

r*  B * klyn . 

1910 

598 

26.2 

2.8  " 

ihiladelphia,  'a. 

1910 

2,2?  6 

26.9 

*7  « w ff 

«^< 

1 ohm  on  d , TFa  • 

191 

1,416 

7.6  * " 

' ’aching! on,  . C. 

1910 

2,759 

29.1 

1 .9  ” 

This  United  tabes  ulletin  further  states:  "Both  Negroes  and  whites 
el-.ov  decre  sen  In  death -rate  in  1910  as  compared  with  190  ).  "'he  do- 
all  na  t :v  the  . 4 for  white  2.6  per  then 

ri 

tion. 


.very  city  in  the  : outh  except  iCey  est,  Tlorlda,  and  * ers- 

for  Hegroes 

?hiPt  Von -or-  s'Cfi,  showr  ? lower  death-rnte/in  191  t har  in  19  . ' 

To  gen  nr?'  1 tenr-eroj  appears  to  be  in  the  direction  >f  a declining 
death-rate  for  ogroes  in  registration  cities,  the  decrease  being 
somewhat  greater  for  negroes  than  for  whiten. 

s ‘nlted  States  Census  Bulletin  further  states  that  "un- 
doubtedly one  of  the  factors  which  has  enured  the  decrease  in  the 
dcnth-rate,  which  decrease  is  alaoct  universal  in  the  cities  of  the 
outh,  Is  the  increase  in  hMU  own*,?  the  h'egro  population." 

In  the  decade  trnr:  19  ) to  191  u the  number  of  hones  owned 
by  d egree:  in  Bouthern  Etatas  tnerenred  by  10:  ,912  or  351.4  n©r  ce-t , 
thir  irrre-ro  covering  1 ,e  lncren re  in  for  horoe  of  5 ,449  or  1C. 7'  . 


-6- 

HOMK?  OVBXB  BY  ESOM  ?.a?IlI23. 


;n^ro  Inhabitants 

1910  jjor  6 weed  home . 


Ale barea  ,943.  S 7 

Georgia  .......  ..38,736  30 

ifRiaalppl  .38, 664  £f> 

Acrth  Caroline  ...40, lift  17 

Couth  Carolina  •••33,161  f-£ 

I era©  41,63(1  17 

virginin  ......••  - £6 , 3 SS  IS 


tue  it  will  be  seen  that  in  Kleelselppi,  tho  state  of  Yardamr  , 

one  ..err o out  of  evor;  ro  owns  r<  home.  In  Couth  Carotin*-,  the 

et?  to  of  flllr-an  and  Bienne,  one  Begro  out  of  every  S3  owns  n 

ho  o.  In  Horth  Carolina  and  in  -Texas  one  Hegr©  out  of  every  17 

owns  a hone.  In  Vir -inis  ore  Herro  out  of  every  If  owns  a hone* 

he  number  of  fnnra  hones  owned  by  I’.egr oe&  in  191  , was 

SIS, I 7,  fn  Incrcnae  of  ,449  or  16.7  „ ftere  Berth  Carolina 

during  this  decade  added  10  white  fsrns  to  av  ry  101  fame  the 

bine  its  added  19  in  the  sane  ratio;  in  Georgia  If?  whites  to  47 

blaokc;  in  Arkansas  8 rhiten  to  Pf  blacks;  in  ireissipri  19  whites 

to  SB  blacks*  in  Virginia  1 whiten  to  7 m» 

look  out  rofessor  lllinn  Starr  y ors.’ 

’i  on’t  y«r  see  t e black  cloud  risin*  ober  yonder  7 
' ooke  as  if  there’s  gwin©  ter  be  a sstom! 
ebber  you  be  frightened,  den  is  only  darkle©, 

4 e’ae  goln’  ter  occupy  dor  Ian’.’ 

Our  professor  infos  ed  his  audience  that  4 Vagm  physician 
wiiom  he  kner  allowed  n child  to  die  because  he  con!-  not  diagnose  s 
e in  pi  e cage  of  diphtheria,  ho  doubt.  I also  knew  a white  physi- 
cian to  let  * patient  die  because  he  diagnosed  ar-  acute  case  of 
e r-endieitis  ae  colic.  Had  the  professor  wished  to  be  f.-rr  cions  he 
night  aloe  have  said  that  a Aegro  physician  of  this  country  was  the 
first  to  success fully  operate  on  tht  human  heart. 


1 


* hen  he  says  that  the  ballot  and  whiskey  nr©  the  two 
greet  curses  of  the  ^ogro  race,  nc  to  the  first  me  agree.  hlekey 
ir  a curse  to  any  race,  but  we  shall  not  pronounce  a curse  upon 
Princeton  because  of  the  occnsion.nl  outbreaks  of  a few  drunken 
students  in  that  University.  Professor  Ayers*  race  is  the  manu- 
facturer end  vender  of  this  pc  cure  od  stuff.  They  carry  it  in  thoir 
ships  along  with  thelr^jbifclce  hearing  Christian  civilisation  to 
/fries  end  other  ends  of  tho  onrth.  therovor  white  men  have  suc- 
ceeded in  winning  the  liquor  traffic  under  the  ban  of  legal  pro- 
hibition, it  is  becaurc  black  men  have  worked  and  voted  with  the® 
to  put  it  Horn.  hi  skey  ip  not  alone  the  curse  it  the  black  race, 
it  In  the  curse  ami  tho  scourge  of  tho  human  race.  ill  not  tho 
i rofeFFor  nlro  denounce  it  in  more  general  terms  T 

As  to  the  ballot  being  a curse  to  the  **egro  race,  we  re- 
call rr,  example  in  the  recent  past  when  it  wns  o curse  to  the  ie- 
gro  race.  It  was  on  that  fateful  day,  tho  first  Tuesday  in  ovom- 
ber  191",  whoa  p few  high-minded  negroes,  believing  in  tho  solemn 
promise©  >f  one  ooflrow  llron,  used  their  ballot  to  assist  in 
elevating  hi  to  the  -residency.  The  .rofessor’s  statement  taken 
on  1 t a face  will  not  stand  the  light  of  facts.  The  Segro  has  al- 
ways used  tl  < ballot  when  permitted,  to  support  tho  best  traditions 
and  the  highest  ideals  of  this  republic.  ut  for  the  Fifteenth 

it 

Amendment  to  t e Constitution,  not  the  "Sor  Freedom  * but  the  new 

\\ 

slavery  ii  the  form  of  universal  jira-crowism,  segregation  and  peon- 
age wool  A be  fastened  upon  the  entire  race.  Before  the  rofeesor 
or  any  one  el  e can  prove  that  tho  Fifteenth  mondment  was  a mis- 
ts ,e,  it  will  have  to  bo  shown  that  the  *5©gro  voters  have  ever  at- 
tempted to  us©  it  in  any  but  the  beet  interests  of  their  country 


-7 


and  their  count  pyaen. 

Irofessor  layers  esy  ® that  he  does  not  believe  in  social 
equality.  J do  not  believe  in  white  supremacy.  On r republic 
cnr.no t stand  if  it  ie  to  be  based  upon  wealth,  colors,  reliri on 
or  race.  • ro^esiior  'yore,  like  - resident  ' ilson,  rcmld  debar 
tiejjj^oos  on  Tuviciw5 in  co?son  with  oth  - r .'S«rf, »n  tnc 
government  under  which  the;-  live.  This  attitude  is  un-American 

-patriotic,  find  in  far  more  menacing  to  the  safety  and  pro-, 
of  Aaerlonn  lnatitntlona  than  any  unfunded  fear  ns  to  the 
use  of  the  ballot  In  the  hands  of  block  men. 

I ro feasor  .Syers  utters  n deliberate  slander  when  he  makes 

w 

the  statement  his  own  that  98  of  all  Segro  men  arc  immoral,  mid 
that  the  proportion  of  immoral  Hogro  women  is  nearly  as  groat.  ' 

/ nan  who  can  be  an  reckless  in  statement  as  that  in  a place  so 
dedicated  to  the  higher  and  bettor  things  of  the  mind  and  spirit 
aa  is  the  Brooklyn  oadeny  of  h’usic.  Its  not  ?*■  t to  be  ueTsiitted 
to  roam  ml  large.  If  we  mere  to  take  the  scandals,  thefts  ore 
murders  with  which  the  columns  of  our  great  daily  capers  are  reek 
ing,  ve  might  .lump  to  the  conclusion  that  98*”  of  the  white  rsen 
and  wore?)  rero  immoral  an'  criminal.  It  war  men  of  like  spirit 
with  - ro feasor  .yers  who  sought  to  Jan  moot  recc 

el  on  of  Congress  a bill  forbidding  marriage  between  the  races,  thn 
making  of  every  colored  woman  md  girl  a human  thing  to  be  the  com 
son  prey  of  the  lust  and  pension  of  white  men,  end  leaving  them  bo 
fore  the  law  without  protection  or  redress.  Be  ecu  so  bis  wee  here 
in  hew  York  and  hew  .England  have  produced  ministers  of  the  Gospel 
who  arc  proved  sodnetioniet o and  murderers,  add  because  they  have 
produced  men  of  education,  wealth  rod  social  position  guilty  of 


and  wr 


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I