I do not think this
would be true, because the Negro is a much stronger and wiser man than
he was thirty-five years ago, and he is fast learning the lesson that
he cannot afford to act in a manner that will alienate his Southern
white neighbours from him. More and more I am convinced that the
final solution of the political end of our race problem will be for
each state that finds it necessary to change the law bearing upon the
franchise to make the law apply with absolute honesty, and without
opportunity for double dealing or evasion, to both races alike. Any
other course my daily observation in the South convinces me, will be
unjust to the Negro, unjust to the white man, and unfair to the rest
of the state in the Union, and will be, like slavery, a sin that at
some time we shall have to pay for.
In the fall of 1878, after having taught school in Malden for two
years, and after I had succeeded in preparing several of the young men
and women, besides my two brothers, to enter the Hampton Institute, I
decided to spend some months in study at Washington, D.C. I remained
there for eight months. I derived a great deal of benefit from the
studies which I pursued, and I came into contact with some strong men
and women. At the institution I attended there was no industrial
training given to the students, and I had an opportunity of comparing
the influence of an institution with no industrial training with that
of one like the Hampton Institute, that emphasizes the industries.
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