Unfettered: A NovelGriggs, Sutton E. (Sutton Elbert)
General
Unfettered: A Novel
Griggs, Sutton E. (Sutton Elbert)
African Americans -- Fiction; United States -- Race relations -- Fiction
"The Spanish-American war has brought us into contact with many million
Filipinos. We must decide what are to be our relations with them. Shall we
or shall we not deal with them on the principle that they are and shall
ever be regarded as our equals, is the burning question with the American
people. The party with which we have hitherto affiliated, claims to be so
busily engaged with our present duties on the Islands that they must
postpone consideration as to the final status of the people thereof. The
Negroes can favor only one solution of the problem, the recognition of the
fact that all men are created equal. They should favor no postponement of a
decision, having themselves suffered from a postponement that lasted from
midnight of July 4th, 1776, until January 1st, 1863, the time that elapsed
between the promulgation of the declaration that all men are created equal,
and the application of that declaration to the American slave.
"In view of the silence of the Republican party upon the question of the
ultimate status of the Filipinos, it has been decided to organize a party
that will spurn silence, that will insist that 'Old Glory' shall continue
to float over human beings that can look each other in the face and shout
'We are all equals; no man among us is, in any sense, less free than
another.'
"All American citizens willing to consecrate their political efforts to the
attainment of this end are invited to elect delegates to be present at
Sinclair Hall on the fifteenth of the incoming month. The Negroes having
been the chief sufferers from the non-recognition of the principles for
which our new party will stand, are expected to take the lead in the new
organization.
"Yours for humanity,
"DORLAN WARTHELL."
The manifest purpose of Dorlan to withdraw the Negro vote from the
Republicans with the view of forming a new party created a profound
sensation. It was discussed by white and colored people, was the theme of
conversation in the street cars, hotel corridors, stores, barber shops,
saloons, brothels, and on every street corner.
There are in the South, men and women, white and colored, who are
endeavoring to meet every issue that arises upon the highest possible
plane. The sentiments of such people found expression in the following
editorial which accompanied Dorlan's pronunciamento. It ran as follows:
"A Negro has been found to display political independence and moral courage
of a high order. He has placed himself in a position where the unthinking
will liken him unto the serpent that buried its fangs in the bosom that
warmed it. None the less, his act is one of marked heroism. While not
endorsing his third party scheme (our party is good enough) we endorse the
spirit of initiative and independence that prompts it. We would that this
spirit of rebellion against party slavery characterized all the voters of
the Southland.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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