Would any such recognition of the race have
taken place? I do not think so. The Atlanta officials went as far as
they did because they felt it to be a pleasure, as well as a duty, to
reward what they considered merit in the Negro race. Say what we
will, there is something in human nature which we cannot blot out,
which makes one man, in the end, recognize and reward merit in
another, regardless of colour or race.
I believe it is the duty of the Negro -- as the greater part of
the race is already doing -- to deport himself modestly in regard to
political claims, depending upon the slow but sure influences that
proceed from the possession of property, intelligence, and high
character for the full recognition of his political rights. I think
that the according of the full exercise of political rights is going
to be a matter of natural, slow growth, not an over-night, gourd-vine
affair. I do not believe that the Negro should cease voting, for a
man cannot learn the exercise of self-government by ceasing to vote,
any more than a boy can learn to swim by keeping out of the water, but
I do believe that in his voting he should more and more be influenced
by those of intelligence and character who are his next-door
neighbours.
I know coloured men who, through the encouragement, help, and
advice of Southern white people, have accumulated thousands of
dollars' worth of property, but who, at the same time, would never
think of going to those same persons for advice concerning the casting
of their ballots.
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