CHAPTER III STRIC THE SOLUTION OF THE NORTH Not in Hades alone Doth Sisyphus roll, ever frustrate, the stone, OWEN MEREDITH-Lucile. TRICTLY speaking, the North offers no solution of the negro problem. Perhaps to the majority of the people of that section, engrossed in their personal concerns, unfamiliar with the history and gravity of the question, unappreciative of the importance of the underlying principles involved, the negro problem appears to be purely academic in its character. The average man or woman comes but slightly into contact with the members of the race, either in the city or rural districts. The negro rarely intrudes himself socially, and is infrequently found in sharp business competition with his white neighbor. The ordinary type of the professional or business man, mechanic or farmer, is serenely apathetic concerning the negro's existence; much less does he regard his welfare as being the subject of any special consideration. The negro is carelessly noted in connection with his usual humble employments. He is usually observed occupied around stables, acting as janitor of apartments, serving as elevator attendant in stores or hotels, or perhaps conducting some unpretending business enterprise. Occasionally some member of the race attracts particular attention by attempting to enter some more ambitious occupation, usually receiving commendation from all except those brought into intimate association with him. The negro women ordinarily are found employed in household service or as laundresses or charwomen; and in general both sexes perform their lowly duties without much friction and with very little assertion of individuality. There is, therefore, a reluctance upon the part of the unthinking majority to give the subject other than jesting consideration, or, at the most, an inclination to rate the problem as a matter needing no special attention, regarding it as one which in the very nature of things will in time bring about its own adjustment. With the South the negro question is one of practical every-day importance, obtruding itself in its various relations upon the attention of every member of the community; in the North, on the contrary, the question in its first aspect has but little, if any, practical importance. Whatever discussion it evokes is confined exclusively to those whose mental horizon is capable of appreciating the gravity of the question and of comprehending the necessity for a final and adequate solution before the threatening evils originating in the negro's race inferiority, ignorance, and lack of opportunity for development become the pressing perils of the next generation. To those persons of the character first above. noted, when the question presents itself at all, it is usually in connection with some casual discussion provoked by outbreaks of violence in the South, and in such instances it is the custom to dispose of the subject by saying, "Let the South settle the problem,-it is theirs. Why should we concern ourselves with it? They need them down South. to do the work, and as far as voting is concerned it does not seem to be a question of any great importance. Here in the North we habitually buy the few votes the negro has, and down South he is not allowed to vote at all, so why should we bother about the matter?" And with this facile method of disposition of the question, the average Northerner turns again to his work or recreation, satisfied that in some undefined but ultimately satisfactory way the negro problem will work out its own solution. Discussion of the Problem. There are, however, in the North many thoughtful and philanthropic minds to whom this summary disposition of the subject is far from being satisfactory, and whose habits of thought are not so ordered that they can calmly survey the situation which has been depicted in the foregoing pages without feeling that there should be at least some effort made to bring about a remedy for the admitted and growing evil. So from time to time we find the question discussed in the editorial pages of our Northern newspapers, the discussion usually being suggested by some peculiar manifestation of the problem in the South; while numerous articles in magazines are devoted to consideration of the acuteness of the question or suggestions for improving the general condition of the negro race. When the leaders of education among the Southern negroes come North upon their annual quest for dollars to carry on the educational development of their people, the platform resounds with philanthropic suggestions for the amelioration of the condition of the African race, and with stirring appeals to the higher sentiments of the people of the community to aid the oppressed in their strivings for intellectual emancipation. So that the North is not entirely oblivious of the problem, but with varying intelligence and always in a spirit of altruism our clergymen, editors, authors, philanthropists, statesmen, and progressive women have advanced from time to time suggestions intended to lead to the solution of the problem. Let us follow our practice in the ascertainment of Southern opinion, and again summon to the witness stand some of those best entitled to hearing, who have in public given expression to their views. There is certainly no one in our country more qualified by natural gifts, historical knowledge, and intimate contact with the practical side of the problem, than the Honorable Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States. In the autumn of the year 1905, President Roosevelt made an extended tour through the Southern States, in the course of which he visited the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute at Tuskegee, Alabama. This institution, under the wise and energetic management of President Booker T. Washington, stands in the forefront of all negro institutions as the most striking example of the success of the theory of joining with industrial education the teaching of those scientific and classical subjects so necessary in the development of the intellectual life. On October 24, 1905, President Roosevelt paid this visit to Tuskegee. Although he had been the guest of the public Roosevelt officials of the state on the preceding day, he at Tuskegee. was unaccompanied on his visit to the institution by any white person of local standing or official character. Crowds of the country people, black and white, who had learned of his coming, had congregated in Tuskegee. After the President had been received by President Washington and the officials connected with the Institute, he was taken in a carriage manufactured by the students, drawn by horses used upon the Institute farm, and, surrounded by students, was escorted to the reviewing stand which had been erected in his honor. There, encircled by negroes, he witnessed the parade of the teachers and students, the result of elaborate preparations which had been made by those connected with the institution. We are told that nearly fifteen hundred young negro men and women, arrayed in the uniform of the institution,-consisting of blue suits with brass buttons, white gloves, and cadet caps on the part of the men, and on the part of the young women of blue dresses trimmed with red braid, and blue straw braid hats with ornamental ribbons,-marched to the music of the Institute band in front of the reviewing stand. Following this display, we are informed by the newspapers that various floats representing the work of the students in the different departments passed by, greatly impressing the Chief Executive with the important character of the training conferred by the institution upon those receiving its benefits. The situation was inspiring, the hour was timely, the negro was at his best, and President Roosevelt took occasion to present to the students in the Chapel of the Institute an address which may be deemed to contain his carefully expressed views upon the solution of the negro problem. The liberty is taken of quoting the essential points of this address, as better than any other statement known to the writer it embodies what may be considered as the Northern solution of the problem: To the white population as well as to the black it is of the utmost importance that the negro be encouraged to make himself a citizen of the highest type of usefulness. It is to the interest of the white people that this policy be conscientiously pursued, and to the interest of the colored people that they clearly realize that they have opportunities for economic development here in the South not now offered elsewhere. Within the last twenty years the industrial operations of the South have increased so tremendously that there is a scarcity of labor almost everywhere, so that it is the part of wisdom for all who wish the prosperity of the South to help the negro to become in the highest degree useful to himself, and therefore to the community in which he lives. The South has always depended |