Cast it
down in agriculture, mechanics, in commerce, in domestic
service, and in the professions. And in this connection it is well
to bear in mind that whatever other sins the South may be called
to bear, when it comes to business, pure and simple, it is in the
South that the Negro is given a man's chance in the commercial
world, and in nothing is this Exposition more eloquent than in
emphasizing this chance. Our greatest danger is that in the great
leap from slavery to freedom we may overlook the fact that the
masses of us are to live by the productions of our hands, and fail
to keep in mind that we shall prosper in proportion as we learn
to dignify and glorify common labor and put brains and skill into
the common occupations of life; shall prosper in proportion as
we learn to draw the line between the superficial and the
substantial, the ornamental gewgaws of life and the useful.
No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in
tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we
must begin, and not at the top. Nor should we permit our grievances
to overshadow our opportunities.
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