The Past and the Present Condition, and the Destiny, of the Colored Race:: A Discourse Delivered at the Fifteenth Anniversary of the Female Benevolent Society of Troy, N. Y., Feb. 14, 1848Garnet, Henry Highland
History
The Past and the Present Condition, and the Destiny, of the Colored Race:: A Discourse Delivered at the Fifteenth Anniversary of the Female Benevolent Society of Troy, N. Y., Feb. 14, 1848
Garnet, Henry Highland
African Americans; United States -- Race relations
Many things that were intended for evil to us, will result, I trust,
in good. The tyrants have debarred us from the wealth accruing from
trade and commerce. This is an evil. But may it not be hoped that we
are their juniors in the art of cheating? We have among us some arrant
cheats, but it is presumed that but a few will doubt that our white
brothers bear off the palm in this department of human depravity. The
besetting sins of the Anglo-Saxon race are, the love of gain and the
love of power. In many instances, while our services could be dispensed
with, we have not been permitted to join the army, and of course have
not been killed in the wars. We have been driven from the sanctuaries
where our oppressors worship, and it may be that we are not quite as
hypocritical as their practices have made them. When the great national
account shall be rendered before the tribunal of Justice, the guilt of
course must be borne by those who might have had, or who have used the
power of the government. There may, therefore, be some good that may
come out of this evil. But no thanks to the evil doers. Their works are
evil still, the good comes in spite of them.
The old doctrine of the natural inferiority of the colored race,
propagated in America by Mr. Thomas Jefferson, has long since been
refuted by Dr. John Mason Goode, and numerous respectable witnesses
from among the slandered, both living and dead: Pushkin in Russia,
Dumas in France, Toussaint in Hayti, Banaker, Theodore Sedgwick Wright,
and a host in America, and a brilliant galaxy in Ancient History.
There are blessings in store for our patient, suffering race,--there
is light and glory. The star of our hope is slowly and steadily rising
above the horizon. As a land that has long been covered by storm and
clouds, and shaken by the thunder, when the storms and clouds had
passed away, and the thunder was succeeded by a calm, like that which
cheered the first glad morning, and flower and shrub smiled as they
looked up to God, and the mountains, plains and valleys rung with
joy,--so shall this race come forth and re-occupy their station of
renown.
But how shall we hasten on that period? How shall we acquit ourselves
on the field where the great battle is to be fought? By following
after peace and temperance, industry and frugality, and love to God,
and to all men, and by resisting tyranny in the name of Eternal
Justice. We must also become acquainted with the arts and sciences,
and agricultural pursuits. These will elevate any people and sever any
chain.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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