"In this same city a Negro woman was kicked off of a street car
by the conductor for pulling through mistake the cord that
registered fares instead of the one that signalled for the
motorman to stop.
"For this same offense a Negro in Memphis was shot in the back
four times and killed by the conductor, who was allowed to make
his escape.
"Many good white people of the South will ask 'If this state of
terror exists among our Negro population, how does it happen
that it has not impressed itself more forcibly upon the public
mind?' Largely because the affected people are voiceless and
because they grow weary of invoking the aid of courts and
commissions that somehow find their way clear to sustain the
side holding membership in the race to which they belong. The
Negroes, therefore, meet in groups and exchange accounts of
outrages and bitterly sneer when they read in the white
newspapers of the South accounts of the ideal relations of the
two races.
"The claim of some of the white people of the South that the
Negro needs no power in his own hands to insure a proper regard
for his interests ought not to be tolerated for a moment in
view of all that has happened since the whites have had
exclusive charge of the southern governments.
"It has long been a contention of the Anglo-Saxon race that the
people should retain power to protect themselves against
possible indifference, incompetence or outright meanness on the
part of public officials, and if Anglo-Saxons refuse to commit
their welfare unreservedly into the hands of fellow
Anglo-Saxons, it seems clear that it is placing too great a
strain upon human nature to expect ideal results when an alien
race is involved. Not only does repression bear such fruit as
we have indicated, but it also bears heavily upon the repressed
in other directions.
"All history shows that a race stands in need of great men, in
need of the contributions of their superior powers, and the
inspiration that their names will carry from generation to
generation.
"Grappling with the affairs of state affords unique
opportunities for growth, while the honor of having served the
state operates as a magnifying glass enlarging the
inspirational force of individuals so honored. Thus a race
having the privilege of committing great trusts to its members
draws as a dividend men of enlarged powers and names which will
inspire. These influences reapplied to the needs of the state
serve mightily to pull the people forward.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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