The Independent Church of God of the Juda Tribe of Israel: The Black Jews: As a fade from black to pure whiteCook, Allan Wilson
Religion
The Independent Church of God of the Juda Tribe of Israel: The Black Jews: As a fade from black to pure white
Cook, Allan Wilson
African Americans -- Colonization -- Africa; Black Hebrews; Southern States -- Race relations
We are not now considering whether these things should or should not
be; we are merely asserting that in the “Black Belt” they are. And
they are for a definite, a fixed purpose. As in slavery days it was
necessary in order to perpetuate the institution to make it a crime to
teach a slave to read or write, in other words to elevate him so that
he could realize his condition of slavery, so in the far South today
in order to maintain the present servile condition of the negro it is
necessary to put him under foot and to keep him under foot. Whippings,
lynchings, burnings--these represent the color line in crimson; and
the color line, as a recent writer points out, is but evidence “of an
attempt based on intuitive choice to preserve those distinctive values
which a racial group has come to regard as of the highest moment to
itself.” The great industrial awakening in the South is made possible
by this supposedly permanent settlement of the race issue, for the
color line properly enforced need not interfere with business--at all.
Are the two races homogeneous? They are, undoubtedly. Some time about
1812 on the border line of two great Southern States there lived
a Presbyterian preacher named John Chavis, “admired for his noble
qualities as a gentleman, revered for his fervent piety as a Christian,
respected for his eminent ability as a teacher and preacher.” He had
been a student at Princeton under Dr. Witherspoon. Opening a classical
school in an aristocratic Southern community, he was patronized by the
best people and became the preceptor of future Senators, Governors,
and financiers; this man was a negro, a free negro--“without any white
blood in his veins.” About five feet seven inches in height, he was
robust and corpulent, having a round, clean shaven face expressive of
great benevolence. The pupils boarded in his home, and in their home he
was a welcome guest. Because of the Nat Turner insurrection in 1832 he
and other free negroes were forbidden by law to preach, and from that
time until his death he was supported by a Southern Presbytery. This is
an isolated case to be sure, but it is portentous.
Are not two races homogeneous which have lived together in peace
for a hundred years, speaking the same language, worshipping the
same God, having similar church affiliations, impelled by similar
superstitions and prejudices, the weaker race imitating the stronger
in customs, manners, and modes of thought? Anyway, if the races are
not homogeneous, how comes it that there are so many mulattoes in the
South? In 1910 one-fifth of the negro population was mulatto.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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