Twentieth Century Negro Literature Part 33

"Is there for honest poverty Wha hangs his head, and a' that?

The coward slave! we pa.s.s him by; We dare be poor for a' that-- For a' that, and a' that, Our toils obscure, and a' that!

The rank is but the guinea's stamp-- The man's the gowd for a' that.

"What, though on hamely fare we dine, Wear hodden pray, and a' that?

Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine; A man's a man for a' that-- For a' that, and a' that, Their tinsel show, and a' that; The honest man, though e'er sae poor, Is king o' men for a' that.

"A prince can mak a belted knight, A marquis, duke, and a' that; But an honest man's aboon his might-- Guid faith, he maunna fa' that!

For a' that, and a' that, Their dignities and a' that; The pith o' sense and pride o' worth Are higher ranks than a' that.

"Then let us pray that come it may-- As come it will, for a' that-- That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth, May bend the gree, and a' that.

For a' that, and a' that, Its coming yet, for a' that-- When man to man, the world o'er, Shall brothers be for a' that!"

SECOND PAPER

IS THE NEGRO AS MORALLY DEPRAVED AS HE IS REPUTED TO BE?

BY PROF. A. U. FRIERSON.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Prof. A. U. Frierson]

AUGUSTUS ULYSSES FRIERSON, D. D.

Mr. A. U. Frierson was born in the State of South Carolina a few years before the Civil War. His parents were slaves, and, of course, were uneducated. After some preparation in the public schools, he entered Biddle University, from which he graduated with honor in 1885. The same year he entered the theological department of the same university, graduating therefrom in 1888.

The Summer of 1885 was spent as teacher and preacher to the ex-slaves of the Choctaw Indians, Indian Territory. He worked under the Freedman's Board of the Presbyterian Church. For several years he acted as pastor of different Presbyterian churches in North and South Carolina.

In 1891 he was called to the chair of Greek language and literature at Biddle University, which position he holds at this writing.

In 1893, his alma mater conferred upon him the degree of D.

D.

A question so pertinent, so comprehensive, so thoroughly charged with what must give rank and standing to a people in the eyes of the world, ought not to be superficially considered, nor lightly and rashly answered. On the surface it would seem to involve a simple yes or no.

But slight reflection reveals the fact that the yes or no fails to satisfy the conditions. That the answer to this question has long since been removed from the realm of the simple negative and affirmative, becomes very evident from what has been, and is still being, said _pro_ and _con_.

The moral status of the Negro of the United States has long since given rise to a debated question. This debate waxes hotter and hotter, and the lines are more closely drawn as the years go by. For it is impossible to think of the future of the Negro apart from his moral status. His future will be bright, gloomy, or blighted, in proportion as he is able or not able to set to his account true moral worth. I speak of the Negro by limitations as I feel that only the American Negro, and that, too, of the United States, can be contemplated by the query under consideration; hence by the discussion.

That my answer will be in line of an _emphatic_ negative will appear from what follows. I know full well the tremendous task I have set myself by this position. In doing this, I must take up the defensive as well as offensive alike against a large per cent of people, outside of the Negro race, who set themselves up as an authority on all questions affecting the Negro, and, mark you, from their decision there is no appeal; as also against the _know-alls_ within the ranks of the race. But I am not deterred by this, since I feel that I owe it to the friends of the race; to those of the race who honestly strive to do what is right, and to myself, to utter no uncertain sound in responding to this important question.

For the encouragement of a weak and struggling people and their friends, for the better enlightenment of mankind in general, touching the moral status of the Negro, I place in evidence and offer in support of my negative the following considerations:

First: As far as my knowledge goes, the sum total of the considerations and discussions tending to show and set forth the moral turpitude of the Negro, leave out, if they do not ignore wholly, a most vital element. Any conclusion, therefore, reached, must eliminate the same, and in the degree that this element is important, the conclusion will be inconclusive and defective.

I contend, in the outset, that any just and charitable answer to this question must take into account the fact that the Negro is not unlike the other children of Adam, in that he is possessed of an inherent immoral tendency. Yet how many, speaking to this subject, reckon from this point? I think all sane people, at least, are agreed that since the fall, conformity to the moral standard, as set up by our Creator, is _relative_ and not _absolute_. I think it would be a very light task to prove this a.s.sertion true, on the best authority known to man--the Bible. A single instance will suffice to put to silence all dissenters. David, "the man after G.o.d's own heart," gives us a life whose complexity at once presents the elements of _pa.s.sion_, tenderness, generosity, and _fierceness_. From this life flowed a character blackened by adultery and murder. Rather checkered, measured by a perfect moral standard.

Grant that the Negro is a child of Adam, and I score one of the most important points on the side of my negative. Weighed in the balance of a perfect moral scale, "There is none good, but one, and that is G.o.d."

Second: When talking or writing on this subject, men seem to forget also that this inherent or natural immoral tendency in the Negro has had the impetus of the most debasing influences of a baser system of slavery, covering a period of two and a half centuries. This is not a defense, nor by any means an apology, for the shortcomings of the Negro, which are too many by far, but it is a plea for fairness in making up a verdict which is very far-reaching in its consequences.

In my humble opinion this thought is sufficient to temper, at least, the criticisms of the most rabid and reckless a.s.sailants of Negro morals. Let friends and foes alike think, if they can, what two hundred and fifty years of training means in a system whose princ.i.p.al tenet was that a Negro had no wish or will of his own--either morally or otherwise--a mere thing, acting only as it is acted upon. Under this system the next most natural thing would be and was the breaking down and beating back of every bar to the baser pa.s.sions, except when its observance, perchance, contributed to the physical vigor and resistance of the Negro, thus rendering him more valuable and indispensable to his master. Add to this, if you please, the fact that there were few, if any, formal marriages; the "shanty" system instead of home; no responsibility in the training of boys and girls that naturally came to the so-called homes; no safeguard thrown around the morals of the tender years of boyhood and girlhood, but, on the other hand, everything most favorable and conducive to the development of bad morals. Out of this condition, unless the superior--the master--had a very high moral sense, which was highly improbable, if not impossible, under the existing circ.u.mstances, little could justly be expected of the inferior--the Negro. Yet, in spite of all this, the Negro gave the world a very few rapists of whom we hear so much nowadays, and on whose account we are so often called upon to defend him from the viewpoint of our question.

As regards this particular crime, I digress here to say that my faith is small. For this reason, there was a time when the commission of it was more opportune and easy than now. For example, during the Civil War, when it was scarcely, if ever, heard of. I have introduced this subject here simply to say this, that human nature is one and the same in mankind, and the argument that natural tendencies do not a.s.sert themselves alike in a slave and a freeman under like favorable conditions, is open to serious objections, if not in a degree fallacious. The pertinence of this reference will also appear when attention is drawn to the fact that the tendency of the rate to criminality, hence, to moral worthlessness, is more largely hypothecated upon this than upon any other single crime. By a similar process of reasoning it would not be difficult to show that all the races of the world are moral reprobates. For what escape would there be for any measured by its criminal cla.s.s? I, therefore, contend, finally, that the standard by which the Negro is measured is seriously at fault, if not wholly wrong. Coming out of the most untoward circ.u.mstances, with less than a half century in which to outlive and unlearn the deadly doings of two hundred and fifty years, who can lay claim to more or to so much as the Negro? Measure him by the depths from which he came as well as by the heights which you would have him attain, when taking his moral pulse.

Third: I note the work of the press, which is largely in the hands of, and controlled by, those least friendly to the Negro's progress.

Hence, a magnificent contribution is daily made from this quarter, to his moral impeachment. I think it is never, perhaps, properly considered, that the cla.s.s generally held up by the press is one and the same with that already noticed under the preceding head--the criminal. Further, news gatherers are at great pains to ferret out and dole out to the public daily whatever serves to excite, and especially whatever shows the moral crookedness of the Negro, and that the years of freedom already enjoyed by him have simply brought forth a generation of vipers. Too often, from the lowest to the highest court, the records are so manipulated as to show the moral obliquity of the Negro. It is a potent fact that public opinion of the Negro is largely, if not wholly, based upon press reports, whether it pertains to religion, politics, morality, or otherwise. I hold, therefore, that it is largely misinformation that brings the Negro into bad odor in this regard, and earns for him the opinion that he is on the decline or "moral lapse," if you please. Then, too, the dying testimony of what is commonly called the worthless Negro, is given wider publicity and greater credence than the precept and example of ten thousand living, straightforward, upright Negroes. I say this because the opinion obtains so widely that the Negro is growing worse.

Fourth: That the Negro is not as morally depraved as he is generally reputed to be, and that those who are foremost to note and proclaim it do not believe it themselves, I place in evidence the following: 1st. A considerable number of Southern states has pa.s.sed laws restrictive, if not prohibitive, of the removal of the Negro from his holy (?) confines, and this, too, where most is seen and known of him.

What! Make it a misdemeanor to influence to emigrate or to deport a people whose presence is a standing menace to the good morals of those who enact measures and those who uphold them? Do not they make themselves liable to mild criticism? Other countries and sections of countries seek to rid themselves of all incubus of whatever kind. Of this we have numerous examples in the sc.u.m from Europe and other parts of the world unloaded upon our sh.o.r.es annually. 2d. Let the Negro with all his moral depravity initiate any movement looking toward his withdrawal even from one part of our country to another. The scene of such activities attracts special attention, and unsought advice is poured upon his "worthless" head; words of warning flow apace, and direct steps are taken to defeat the end in view. In view of this fact, the Negro is seldom allowed to organize, secretly, for mutual protection and helpfulness, in some sections; and, when organized, he is always looked upon with grave suspicions. That people should go so far out of the way to circ.u.mvent the legitimate endeavors of the undeserving, to my mind, is the most unnatural thing to be sure.

"Consistency, thou art a jewel!"

Fifth: What people regard as a most discouraging sign touching the Negro of this country, I consider a most portentous and hopeful one. I refer to it here, because it bears decidedly upon my answer, and is strictly in line therewith. As shown by the census of 1890 and 1900, the increase of the Negro has suffered a positive check, if not back-set. In explanation of this, one theory and another has been advanced. Some have seen that he, like the American Indian, is on the road to a kindred fate--final and utter extinction. Others have consigned him to this or that destiny, according as they have felt kindly or unkindly towards him. True, he has increased less rapidly, but more surely, because of his stricter observance and growing regard for the proper and G.o.d-appointed channels to this end. His propagation by marriage, in which case one man is the husband of one woman, and one woman the wife of one man, would naturally lend to this.

I might record and add to what has already been said, a rich and varied experience, growing out of actual contact with, and work for, my people covering twenty-four years--a period in which no year has pa.s.sed without leaving something done or suffered. But time and s.p.a.ce will not permit.

Finally, out of the unfavorable moral conditions to which the Negro as a child of Adam is heir; out of the most untoward circ.u.mstances, surrounding him in the dark days of his enslavement; out of the traductions to which he is exposed at the hands of a most cruel and relentless foe--the printing press; out of the mock trials and false convictions visited upon him by the courts, too often manned by his oppressors; out of the barriers put in the way of his withdrawal from the midst of those who p.r.o.nounce him without moral worth; out of the glaring inconsistency of all dissenters; out of the pure and spotless lives of ten thousand women--the wives, mothers, sisters, and lovers--of as high souled and moral men as the world ever saw or produced, I here and now once again and forever record my most unconditioned and emphatic _no_ to the query I have in some measure tried to answer.

I have attempted no fine a.n.a.lysis of the case, but simply tried to point out a few facts more or less familiar to all.

THIRD PAPER.

IS THE NEGRO AS MORALLY DEPRAVED AS HE IS REPUTED TO BE?

BY MRS. M. E. C. SMITH

[Ill.u.s.tration: Mrs. M. E. C. Smith.]

MRS. MARY E. C. SMITH.

Mrs. Mary E. C. Smith, daughter of Peter H. Day, was a native of New York city. Her education was provided for by her energetic widowed mother, to whom she ascribes the secret of her success. From early childhood she showed strong power of mind, and inherited from her mother that force and determination of purpose which prefigure success in whatever is undertaken. As a pupil, she was prompt and energetic, and never failed to win one of the Ridgeway prizes for good scholars.h.i.+p, which were given annually to successful contestants. She was an excellent Bible student, and when ten years old was elected a teacher in the Sunday-school. At this age she was impressed with the idea that it was her duty to go to the South to instruct her people, who were just emerging from bondage.

By a strange coincidence she was led to Florida, when she had finished her school course, the very place she had named when in an outburst of childish enthusiasm, while preparing a geography lesson, she had said: "O, mother, how I long to go there and teach my people!" The "land of flowers" has been the princ.i.p.al field of her labors as a teacher. Her ability as a teacher was soon discovered, and in 1890 she became princ.i.p.al of the Normal Department of the Edward Waters College, under the presidency of Prof. B. W. Arnett, Jr. Hundreds of students are better citizens because of her faithful teaching and Christian influence. As a church and Sunday-school worker she has few equals. The earnestness of purpose with which she performs the slightest duty is an example worthy of imitation.

This question is as grave as it is suggestive. There being a marked difference between _character_ and _reputation_, its discussion naturally leads to a consideration of the Negro as he really is, and not as he is represented. The delineation of the Negro's true character is one of the most effectual means of refuting the columnious epithets so constantly hurled at him--a veritable blasphemy against his higher and better nature.

Has the Negro a higher and better nature? We shall see.

To separate him from the rest of the human family would be to dispute the great truth, that has been so long accepted, by all thoroughly Christianized nations--the Fatherhood of G.o.d, and the brotherhood of man. "Of one blood G.o.d formed all nations, for to dwell upon the face of the earth." Man, in his first estate, was supremely moral, being created in the righteous image of his Maker; had man continued in this condition, he would have been perfectly innocent and happy, favored with the exalted privilege of direct communion with G.o.d, inspired only by Him who is the Great Source, all light and perfection, from whom emanates nothing dark, unholy or unclean.

But man fell, and was driven from Eden. Hence, he began to wander away from G.o.d, in spirit and purpose; the tempter had been admitted and man's heart grew very deceitful and desperately wicked. The command of G.o.d, however, as written in Genesis, 1st chap., 28th verse, was inviolable. The earth _must_ be peopled; thus man continued to wander, and his heart became proud and defiant, even to the resistance of the will and purpose or G.o.d. So far did the distance become between man and his Maker and so greatly abounded his wickedness, that at last G.o.d gave him over to his own evil imaginations.

The inhabitants of the antediluvian world, as a consequence of man's first transgression, fell lower and lower in the scale of good morals.

They became so confirmed in wickedness, so totally depraved, that G.o.d destroyed them all, save one man and his family, whom He accounted as righteous, for the sake of his faithful obedience, and whose seed He preserved for the repeopling of the earth. The races, whether Semitic, Hamitic or j.a.phetic, as springing from the three sons of Noah, all partook of some of the natural proclivities of their revered and ancient grand-sire. What Canaan lacked in the line of perfection in the moral ethics of his day, may be directly attributed to heredity.

The lineage of the Negro has been directly traced through Cush to Ham; hence, to argue the total moral depravity of the sons of Ham is but to concede the total moral depravity of the entire human race, as emanated from Noah in the postdiluvian age.

To a.s.sert that the Negro has no defects, and is morally good, would be to deny him as one of the legitimate heirs of the family of Noah, and deprive him of his natural inheritance. On the contrary, the Negro is joint-heir to _all_ the virtues and _all_ the infirmities of the other members of the human family. He is just as good and equally as bad as his fairer-complexioned brothers.

"Multiply and replenish the earth," was the eternal fiat. The subsequent confusion of tongues, and the dispersion of the people even to the remotest parts of the globe, were but links in the chain of G.o.d's design. The entire globe must be peopled, not a portion of it; hence the sons of man continued their migration until they were lost to each other.