Black and White: Land, Labor, and Politics in the SouthFortune, Timothy Thomas
History
Black and White: Land, Labor, and Politics in the South
Fortune, Timothy Thomas
African Americans -- Southern States; Southern States -- Economic conditions; United States -- Race relations
"Q. (the Chairman) What do you think of his [the black
man's] intellectual and moral qualities and his capacity for
development? A. (Mr. Calhoun, John C.) ... The probate judge
of my county is a Negro and one of my tenants, and I am here
now in New York attending to important business for my
county as an appointee of that man. He has upon him the
responsibilities of all estates in the county; he is probate
judge.
"Q. Is he a capable man? A. A very capable man, and an
excellent, good man, and a very just one."
Again (_Ibid_ p. 137), Mr. Calhoun testified:
The sheriff of my county is from Ohio, _and a Negro_, and he
is a man whom _we all support in his office_, because he is
capable of administering his office.
When the grandson of John C. Calhoun can make such admissions,
creditable alike to his head and his heart, may not the great-grandson
of Wade Hampton rise up to chase the Bourbonism of his
great-grandfather into the tomb of disgruntlement? I have not the
least doubt of such probability. Again, I say, I am not seriously
concerned about the future political status of the black man of the
South. He has talent; he has ambition; he possesses a rare fund of
eloquence, of wit and of humor, and these will carry him into the
executive chambers of States, the halls of legislation and on to the
bench of the judiciary. You can't bar him out; you can't repress him:
he will make his way. God has planted in his very nature those
elements which constitute the stock-in-trade of the American
politician--ready eloquence, rich humor, quick perception--and you may
rest assured he will use all of them to the very best advantage.
I know of municipalities in the South to-day, where capable colored
men are regularly voted into responsible positions by the best white
men of their cities. And why not? Do not colored men vote white men
into office? And, pray, is the white man less magnanimous than the
black man? Perish the thought! No; the politics of the South will
readily adjust themselves to the best interest of the people; be very
sure of this. And the future rulers of the South will not all be
white, nor will they be all black: they will be a happy commingling of
the two peoples.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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