University of Virginia Library

Habit of Inquiry

4. There is in some minds a native thirst that leads to investigation along all lines. While there are some

investigative minds in the Negro race the number is far too small. There is great need of the universal possession of the attitude of curiosity which leads to inquiry. The inquisitive mind cannot be on perfectly good terms with the stationary mind.

The late Nathaniel S. Shaler said that the Negro on the whole, is lacking in the degree of curiosity which leads to inquiry. The lack of a proper degree of the spirit of inquiry leads to the prevalence of rumors which have no foundation in fact, causes a lack of proper support for authorship, causes some newspapers to resort to fantastic methods to increase circulation, and causes the lot of the advanced thinker to be peculiarly hard. As to whether a race is to be progressive or stationary depends in large measure upon the extent of the habit of inquiry.