With God's help, I believe that I have completely rid myself of any
ill feeling toward the Southern white man for any wrong that he may
have inflicted upon my race. I am made to feel just as happy now when
I am rendering service to Southern white men as when the service is
rendered to a member of my own race. I pity from the bottom of my
heart any individual who is so unfortunate as to get into the habit of
holding race prejudice.
The more I consider the subject, the more strongly I am convinced
that the most harmful effect of the practice to which the people in
certain sections of the South have felt themselves compelled to
resort, in order to get rid of the force of the Negroes' ballot, is
not wholly in the wrong done to the Negro, but in the permanent injury
to the morals of the white man. The wrong to the Negro is temporary,
but to the morals of the white man the injury is permanent. I have
noted time and time again that when an individual perjures himself in
order to break the force of the black man's ballot, he soon learns to
practise dishonesty in other relations of life, not only where the
Negro is concerned, but equally so where a white man is concerned.
The white man who begins by cheating a Negro usually ends by cheating
a white man. The white man who begins to break the law by lynching a
Negro soon yields to the temptation to lynch a white man.
Pages:
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167