University of Virginia Library

Signs of Friction

In the South the lines of separation between the races are everywhere apparent. In the North the feeling of separation is very intense though manifesting itself in different ways. For example, in the South separate schools for the two races are created by law, while in the North it is done by the moving of white people from districts into which the colored people have moved. For example, there are but a very few white students in Wendell Phillips High School in Chicago.

It is said that white parents living in districts with large number of Negroes make a practice of sending their children to schools which are not attended by many Negro children. The desire of white people in the North to be separated from the colored people can be judged by the fact that they have sacrificed millions of dollars ingested in residences in fleeing from neighborhoods because of the influx of colored people.

Prof. Kelly Miller, of Howard University, says, "The evil genius of race prejudice is nation wide and race deep." The Philadelphia Tribune which for nearly a half century has been the mouthpiece of the colored people of the "city of brotherly love," had this to say editorially in commenting upon Decoration Day: "The customs which are contrary to human brotherhood and equality; which permit human beings to be burned alive; which send black Gold Star Mothers on separate ships; which cause a large group of citizens to doubt the existence of God; which breed hatred which make the Stars and Stripes a symbol of white supremacy, make the real spirit of Decoration Day a hollow mockery,"

There is ample evidence that race prejudice is fast spreading. Mr. J. A. Rogers in the American Mercury says: "Recently in London at the home of a friend I consorted a scrap book with clippings from the English press on the Negro. They read like extracts from the Ku Klux Klan publications, or the pronouncements of Southern Congressmen. Talk with an English Negro long enough and he will tell you that if it were not for some Englishwomen he would not be able to stay in England. Here are the exact words of one of them said to me which I give because it is typical of the feelings of many: "If it were not for white women we'd die. That is the absolute truth. The men would massacre us though the Negro is a terrible fighter.

The Topeka Daily Capital says: "Ex-Governor Hoch, after traveling from one side of the country to the other, filling Chautauqua engagements and observing conditions as he travels, gives it as his opinion that the prejudice against the colored race is increasing all over the North. No matter how well educated or well behaved a colored man may be, he is apt to be denied admittance to public gatherings where whites are congregated. He is practically barred from the white churches. Hardly a hotel in the country will afford him entertainment. Labor unions shut their doors against him and his children, and to the ordinary observer his case seems to be growing more hopeless every day."

Prof. E. B. Renter, of the University of Iowa, says: "The problem takes an added importance because it is one of the relatively permanent facts of American life. There is no present evidence to indicate that the problem will pass or become of less importance in the near future. On the contrary, there is every indication that it will become a more acute and more important one."

Prof. Wm. McDougall, of Harvard University, calls the American race problem the nation's 'most distressing problem; one that if not boldly dealt with, may prove a lasting and increasing danger to the health and even to the very life of the nation."