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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 1903)
'-Twi Wvi-mm" v" The Commoner. fc WILLIAn J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. -w if - Vol. 3. No. 31. Lincoln, Nebraska, August 21, 1903. Whole No. 135. a THE RACE PROBLEM On another page will bo found a letter re cently written by President Roosevelt to Governor Durbiri on the subject of lynching. Forgetting for the present the failure of the president to enforce the law against tne trust magnates and Govornor Durbin's refusal ..o deliver to Kentucky authori ties a republican ex-governor charged with mur der, let us consider the subject of mob law as it is related to the race question. The president is right in protesting against mob law it cannot be defended. It is a reflection on the people if legal means of punishment are adequate and effective, and it is a reflection 01 the government if the people have reason to distrust its ability to en forc6 the law. All will agree with the president that punishment should not only be sure, but should be as swift as a due regard to the rights of the accused will permit Whatever punishments are sanctioned by public opinion should be em bodied in the law and in the case of crimes against women the laws should be such oven though a constitutional amendment were njcessary to se cure itthat the victim of the outrage will be pro- tected'fromKe liumiliationwof haying'.to give tes- timoriy before a crowd of curious, but disinter ested, persons. The president is also to be commended on hav ing coupled a denunciation of rape with a con demnation of lynching. Too many cry out against the lawless punishment without saying anything against the horrible crime which arouses the anger of the people. If some of the enthusiasm that is spent in passing resolutions denouncing mob law was employed in condemning the unspeakable fceastiality that provokes summary punishment there would be fewer instances of mob law. The fact that the president did not specifically mention southern lynchings shows that the' lynch ings and burnings in rrthern states have con vinced him that race prejudice is as strong in Illi nois, Indiana, Delaware, anJ Kansas as in Mis sissippi, Georgia, Alabama, or Texas. jit may be well in this connection to con sider race prejudice for a moment in connection with mob law. That there 's such a thing must be admitted. It is written on. every page of his tory and is not likely to disar.-r soon. It must be remembered, too, that the negro has" as much prejudice against the white man as the white man has against the negro, and if the negro was in a position to rule the white nan there is no reason to doubt that the white man Would have reason to complain. This was apparent in the carpet-bag days and is apparent today wherever it can find expression. JA sense of justice, however, restrains this prejudice and it is not often that either the white man or the negro says anything in the presence of the other that is calculated to offend. Color is not a matter of choice, neither can it bo changed by will or by law. It is, therefore, as unkind to taunt a man with being black as it is unreasonable for a black man to be angered by such. a taunt. A man is to be prateed or blamed according to the use he makes of his talents or opportuni ties, not by his inherited advantages. The fact that a negro is lynched by a mob because of an outrage upon a woman ought not to increase tho race prejudice that exists. White men aro lynched for the same crime. Neither must tho white man's feeiings toward tho negro bo judged by his con duct when' under great excitement Man mad is an entirely different creature from man -deliberate. Men in anger have killed fathers, wives, brothers, sons and friends they have broken ov ery tie of love and kinship. Suffrage qualifications cannot bo attributed en tirely to race prejudice for suffrage qualifications aro to bo found in nearly all countries and havo been employed in many of our own states. They havo been employed by white men against mem bers of the white race and by peoplo of every color against peoplo of their own color. Woman suf fragists complain that women are disfranchised and such disfranchisement cannot bo explained on the ground of race prejudice either, for husband and wife, mother and son, aro not only of tho same race, but aro linked together by tho strong est bonds known. pho suffrage amendments in tho south, so r. mohompjlined' of by republican politicians, are "'not nearly so severe as tho republican colonial policy in the Philippines.' First In every southern state some of tho .negroes can vote now, and all others can qualify themselves for suffrage; In tho Philippines tho inhabitants aro permanently disqualified. Second The negroes in the south, even when they cannot vote, havo the protection of federal and state constitutions; the Filipino has no con stitutional protection whatever. Third The negroes in the south live under the laws that the white man makes for himself; ' tho Filipino lives under laws that we make for him and would not live under ourselves While tho brown man of the Orient is faring worse than the black man in the south, the re publican leaders are stirring up race antagonism in this country In order to keep the colored vote eolid for the republican party. Even the presi dent has contributed moro than his slyire to tho agitation. When he has appointed a colored man to. office he has dono it with a flourish of trum pets and a brass band accompaniment that tho world might know that tho "door" was wide open. When a colored postmistress was objected to he refused to allow her to resign and closed tho office and did it allay race prejudice? No; it did more to excite race prejudice than any ten colored appointments that President McKinley rr.ade. The Booker T. Washington dinner at the White house did even more than the indianola postoffice incident to excite race prejudice. The president surely did not Intend to inject the question of social equality into politics, for on that issue he could not carry a state in the Union; then why arouse the colored people to ex pect social equality or agitate the whites with tho fear of it? It is a grievous mistake to turn the negro's thoughts from the substantial advantages of industrial, intellectual and moral progress to the unsubstantial promises of social recognition, "he amalgamation of the races is not the solu tion of tho raco question, and that would be the logical 'result of social equality. In their nat ural right to life, llborty and tho pursuit of hap piness tho white man and tho black man aro equal and thoso rights should bo protected with jealous care. Educational advantages should be open to both races and both should bo encour aged to secure rll tho mental discipline possible. Whether tho more advanced race should fix suffrage qualifications for tho less advanced is a question to be determined by tho facts in the case, but it is safo to say that on this subject the people of tho north would bo much like the people of the south if they woro compelled to moot the same conditions. As to social equality thcro should bo a frank and candid understanding. There is no difference on this subject 1 otween tho whito peoplo of the north and tho whito peoplo of tho south. The color line is drawn by republican families as distinctly as it is by democratic families, as distinctly by northern famlles as by southern families. There is moro friendliness and helpfulness whero this -is recognized than whore it is left in doubt and uncertainty. VTho white raco ought to recognize tho rights of tho black raco and lond it overy possible as sistancoj Tho whites of tho south are taxing themselves to educate tho children of darker skin, while republican politicians in tho north aro rid ing into office on black votes and, while they ex clude tho colored peoplo from their social func tions, aro constantly trying to array tho southern negro against tho southern white man. There is another aspect of tho question. The promise of social equality false as it is encour ages the educated negro to hope to get away from his race and thus tho race loses tho benefit that the moro progressive negroes might bring to it Instead of trying to bleach tho face or to take the kink out of tho hair let tho colored man recognize that ho Is black by nature and set to work to show what one of his raco can accomplish No upright, intelligent and law-abiding colored man ever gets into trouble himself or Involves his peoplo in a race war. After the colored man has established a reputation for virtue, sobriety and good sense, let him devote himself to tho building up of a society that will satisfy his needs. If he hag daughters let him make them worthy of the best young men of his raco; if he has sons, let bint make them examples of industry and good habits. To "deserve respect and not enjoy it is better thajL to enjoy respect without deserving it, but to de serve respect Is the best and B'.-est way to secur. it A good character Is more valuable and mort permanent than a postoffice, and nothing will d more to kill race prejudice than the building up ofc character. The white man needs to be reminded, as the president suggests, that lawlessness Is dangerous, and torture demoralizing to those who practice it, but the black man must also be cautioned not to judge the white man's life purpose by the pa sions of an hour and he should be warned not to allow the vices and lusts of the most abandoned 4 DflKi