The Journal of Negro History, Volume 8, 1923Various
History
The Journal of Negro History, Volume 8, 1923
Various
African Americans -- Periodicals
Thank heaven for the respite I now enjoy! I had been in Dublin
but a few days, when a gentleman of great respectability kindly
offered to conduct me through all the public buildings of that
beautiful city; and a little afterwards, I found myself dining
with the Lord Mayor of Dublin. What a pity there was not some
American Democratic Christian at the door of his splendid mansion,
to bark out at my approach, "They don't allow niggers in here!"
The truth is, the people here know nothing of the Republican Negro
hate prevalent in our glorious land. They measure and esteem
men according to their moral and intellectual worth, and not
according to the color of their skin. Whatever may be said of the
aristocracies here, there is none based on the color of a man's
skin. This species of aristocracy belongs pre-eminently to "the
land of the free, and the home of the brave." I have never found
it abroad, in any but Americans. It sticks to them where-ever they
go. They find it almost as hard to get rid of as to get rid of
their skins.
The second day after my arrival at Liverpool, in company with my
friend Buffum, and several other friends I went to Eaton Hall, the
residence of the Marquis of Westminster, one of the most splendid
buildings in England. On approaching the door, I found several
of our American passengers who came out with us in the Cambria,
waiting at the door for admission, as but one party was allowed in
the house at a time. We all had to wait till the company within
came out. And of all the faces, expressive of chagrin, those of
the Americans were pre-eminent. They looked as sour as vinegar,
and as bitter as gall, when they found I was to be admitted on
equal terms with themselves. When the door was opened I walked in,
on an equal footing with my white fellow citizens, and from all
I could see I had as much attention paid me by the servants who
showed me through the house as any with a paler skin. As I walked
through the building, the statuary did not fall down, the pictures
did not leap from their places, the doors did not refuse to open,
and the servants did not say, "We don't allow niggers in here!"
A happy new year to you and to all the friends of freedom.
Excuse this imperfect scrawl and believe me to be ever and always
yours,
FREDERICK DOUGLASS
BOOK REVIEWS
_The History of the Afro-American Group of the Episcopal Church._
By GEORGE F. BRAGG, Rector St. James First African Church,
Baltimore. With an Introduction by the Rt. Rev. T. DuBose Bratton,
D.D., LL.D., Bishop of Mississippi. The Church Advocate Press,
Baltimore, 1922, pp. 319.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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