I
explained that my theory of education for the Negro would not, for
example, confine him for all time to farm life -- to the production of
the best and the most sweet potatoes -- but that, if he succeeded in
this line of industry, he could lay the foundations upon which his
children and grand-children could grow to higher and more important
things in life.
Such, in brief, were some of the views I advocated in this first
address dealing with the broad question of the relations of the two
races, and since that time I have not found any reason for changing my
views on any important point.
In my early life I used to cherish a feeling of ill will toward
any one who spoke in bitter terms against the Negro, or who advocated
measures that tended to oppress the black man or take from him
opportunities for growth in the most complete manner. Now, whenever I
hear any one advocating measures that are meant to curtail the
development of another, I pity the individual who would do this. I
know that the one who makes this mistake does so because of his own
lack of opportunity for the highest kind of growth. I pity him
because I know that he is trying to stop the progress of the world,
and because I know that in time the development and the ceaseless
advance of humanity will make him ashamed of his weak and narrow
position.
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