Permit me to say this word to you in this time of most serious anxiety. You have read of the riots in St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Chester, Pennsylvania during the Great World War and in Washington and Chicago since the close. When the facts have been finally sifted, they have always shown that the colored people did not start these riots. They were started by whites in every instance. If there are to be riots in the future I want to say to my people let it be as it has been in the past, that you shall not be the instigators of them. It is to the everlasting disgrace of these Northern cities as it has been of certain Southern cities, that these riots have been started by whites, and that white policemen who should be the first to uphold the law have, in nearly every instance assisted the mobs. Now is the time for all of us to keep our wits: to do nothing wrong, which may be any excuse for riot. Let men and women go about their work quietly, attending to their business. Keep away from saloons and places where there is gambling. More trouble starts in these places than anywhere else. Avoid arguments. Make no boasts. Make no threats. Attack no man nor woman without due provocation, and under no circumstances hurt a child. Don’t tell anybody what the Negroes are going to do to the whites. For we do not want war; we want peace. Our safety is in peace. Don’t loaf in the streets; do not needlessly encounter gangs of white boys. A gang of boys from 15 to 20 years is generally irresponsible. A gang of white toughs will delight to ‘jump’ a lone Negro, especially if they number eight or a dozen and believe the Negro is unarmed; and it is foolish to give them the chance. In trading as nearly as possible get the right change before paying your bill; know what you want, where you can trade with your own people, where you are not liable to get into a dispute. Don’t go to white theatres, white ice cream places, white banks or white stores, where you can find colored to serve you just as well. In other words don’t spend your hard earned money where you are in danger of being beaten up. Don’t carry concealed weapons—its against the law. Now I am not urging cowardice. I am urging common sense. I am urging law and order. Protect your home, protect your wife and children, with your life, if necessary. If a man crosses your threshold after you or your family, the law allows you to protect your home even if you have to kill the intruder. Obey the law but do not go hunting for trouble. Avoid it. Do not be afraid or lose heart because of these riots. They are merely symptoms of the protest of your entrance into a higher sphere of American citizenship. They are the dark hours before morning which have always come just before the burst of a new civic light. Some people see this light and they provoke these riots endeavoring to stop it from coming. But God is working. Things will be better for the Negro. We want full