Unfettered: A NovelGriggs, Sutton E. (Sutton Elbert)
General
Unfettered: A Novel
Griggs, Sutton E. (Sutton Elbert)
African Americans -- Fiction; United States -- Race relations -- Fiction
"When I was a lad, that Negro insulted and then beat me. No doubt he
carried with him for years the thought that he was physically my superior.
I was determined to wrest from him this conception. Had I proceeded
against him on terms which he regarded as unfair, he would not have
inwardly restored to me the palm which he wrested from me years ago. But,
proceeding against him on terms of equality as I did, he is forced to
acknowledge in his innermost consciousness that I am physically his
superior. I, for one, think that we white men make a mistake in not seeking
by physical culture to maintain even our physical superiority. I am in
favor of the doctrine of Anglo-Saxon superiority in all realms, even the
physical."
'Squire Mullen, with a smile upon his face, came forward and grasped Lemuel
Dalton by the hand.
"We understand you better now, sir. We are proud of you, sir. Lads, hear
what he says. In developing brain don't forget brawn. The darkey now has
brawn. His strong physique and reproductive powers, show that he is in the
world to stay to the end of time. If, in the years to come, he adds mental
to physical endowment, we may be in the lurch unless we take care of the
physical side of our development. Give me your hand again, sir," said
'Squire Mullen, once more shaking hands with Lemuel Dalton.
This matter having been disposed of, consideration was now given to Harry
and Beulah. It was the concensus of opinion that the education which Harry
and Beulah had received was mainly responsible for what the whites termed
"arrogant assumption of equality."
The advisability and inadvisability of educating the Negro was gone into
and the conclusion reached that the only safe education for the Negro was
the education that taught him better how to work. It was decided that Harry
had been punished equitably for his offense against Lemuel Dalton as an
_individual_. They held that something must be done however, to avenge the
insult to the white _race_, perpetrated when one of their number was
assailed.
As a result of their deliberations, lasting well up into the night, it was
decided to drive Harry and Beulah out of the settlement, both as a
punishment for their offense and as a warning to other Negroes against
"impudence towards their superiors."
In the meanwhile the Negroes had been coming and going at Stephen Dalton's.
They came in part from curiosity, in part to see if they were in danger,
and in part out of sympathy. They all listened critically to Beulah's
recital of the trouble.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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