intensive studies of Professor Dubois. Thus he finds that the average
Negro family in Philadelphia numbers 3.18, but little more than one
child to the couple. The Mongrel record is even worse. Of thirty-three
families (four White husbands, twenty-nine White wives), the average
size was 2.9; there seem to have been thirty-five children in all. This
painstaking sociologist admits: (1) "That a tendency to much later
marriage than under the slave system is revolutionizing the Negro
family and incidentally leading to much irregularity." (2) "There is,
nevertheless, still the temptation for young men and women under forty
to enter into matrimony before their economical condition warrants it."
(3) "Among persons over forty, there is a marked tendency towards
single life." (4) "The very large number of widowed and separated
points to grave physical, economical, and moral disorder" (_op. cit._,
p. 70).
Among college-bred Negroes, presumably by far the best class, Dubois
finds 491 couples represented by 1,081 children, of whom 877 survive,
982 by 887. This number may yet be increased somewhat by more births;
but it will also be decreased by deaths of the young, so that the total
of the next propagative generation will very improbably reach the
number of the parents, 982.
Once more, consider this table of the percentages in families of one,
two to six, seven to ten, eleven and more in the United States in
general, and in the Negro population of a number of cities, as Atlanta,
Nashville, Cambridge:
1 2 to 6 7 to 10 11 and more
U.S. 3.63 73.33 20.97 2.07
N. 4.75 79.85 15.22 .18
It is seen that the small families (Negro) greatly preponderate. Of the
79.85 per cent., nearly one-fourth (19.17 per cent.) were families of
only two (_op. cit._, p. 167).
"_For several decades to come, the average size of the Negro family
will decrease until economic well-being can keep pace with the demands
of a rising standard of living_" (_op. cit._, p. 166). We have
italicized this sentence, for it pronounces the doom of the Negro.
As the standard of living rises, as competition sharpens, his economic
"well-being" will find it harder and harder to "keep pace," his family
will shrink more and more, his race will dwindle faster and faster into
insignificance.
A striking corroboration of our results surprises the reader of
Professor C. H. Crogman's work, "The Remarkable Advancement of the
Afro-American," at Chapter XIII, on "Mortality." Therein Professor
Harris, of Fisk University, reports an intensive study of the Nashville
Negro, whose circumstances are at least comparatively favourable. In
145 families he found 649 persons, an average of not quite 4-1/2;
hence, he yields the contention that the Negro is "prolific." "The
excessive mortality" he found "due largely and perhaps altogether, to
constitutional diseases." "Pulmonary consumption is the 'destroying
angel.'" "Thirteen suffer from scrofula." "More white people die from
contagious diseases and local diseases than colored; while more colored
people die from constitutional diseases than white." The "crimes of
mothers," he found "also a fruitful reason of the slow rate of increase
in the colored population. This state of affairs is not confined to
Nashville. It is true of nearly all our large Southern cities; and
whether we like it or not, the hard fact remains that the enormous
death rate among us, together with our small birth rate, is one of the
signs of the times that, unless our home life be radically changed, the
Negro problem in America may be ultimately solved by the extinction of
the Negro." And more to the same effect.
Such is the state of case, as attested by a professor in the best-known
coloured university, among a populace that have dwelt for a whole
generation in the shadow of this noted seminary. House-to-house
investigation tells everywhere the same story. Thus, in 1901, as
appears from the "concrete study" embodied in the Master's Dissertation
of William Wilson Elwang, there were 34 births in a Negro population of
1,916 (Columbia, Mo.)--17 per thousand against a death rate of 24 per
thousand. The small family average was almost precisely the same as in
Nashville. There were only 161 children under 6 years of age, and 60
married couples were childless! The interpretation has already been
suggested in the foregoing quotations.
From all of this it is clear, not only that the coloured birth rate is
low and is falling, but why it is low, and why it is falling. It is
almost impossible that it should long remain so much as thirty-five per
thousand per annum, or even thirty-four or thirty-three. It seems
certainly descending towards thirty--that is, 300 births per myriad
yearly. But the present death rate is 296 per myriad; it fell only
three, from 299 to 296, in the decade from 1890 to 1900; it actually
rose from 308 to 313 in the cities of the non-registration area. Thus
it appears certain that the birth and death rates of the Negro cannot
continue very far apart, that they are steadily approaching, and that
without some strange reversal of present tendencies, the birth rate
must ere long fall below the death rate in all but a very few
districts, and at no distant period even in them. In all likelihood
these tendencies will be rather strengthened than weakened with
advancing years, and there are those now living who will actually see
the Afro-American moving rapidly towards extinction. But even at the
present rate, he must shrink swiftly in importance; for the census
analyst admits that even in the registration area the death rate of the
Negro is about ten per thousand greater than that of the foreign White,
and about thirteen per thousand greater than that of the native White.
Since his birth rate can hardly, in the extremest cases, exceed the
native White's, much less the foreigner's, it follows that both must
gain and are gaining on him, at least ten per thousand yearly. Regard
it, then, as you will, there is no escape from our general conclusion,
which faces us from the whole circle of statistical fact.
RECORD OF CRIME
We pass now, formally, to the second grand cause of the Negro's race
declension--namely, his vice. The general fact is a matter of the most
common observation, but it is also witnessed unimpeachably by the
records of the courts. Here is how the case stands in the census of
1890. The White population was then almost exactly seven and one-half
times the Black. The prisoners in the United States, June 1, 1890 were:
Whites 57,310, Blacks 24,277. In proportion to numbers, the Black
prisoners should have been 7,642, but they were more than thrice as
many; the Black appears more than thrice as criminal as the White.
This, however, is not nearly the whole truth. The list of Caucasian
crimes swells chiefly in the Northeast, where foreigners most and
Negroes least abound. In the various grand divisions of the country,
the record comes out far more clearly. Thus, in the North Atlantic,
there were in prison: Whites 26,182, Blacks 2,037. Out of every myriad
of population there were 155 Blacks; out of every myriad of prisoners
there were 722 Blacks; his prison rate was nearly five times as high as
the Caucasian--this, too, in a region of urban population, largely
immigrant. In the North Central there were 2,738 Black prisoners and
17,027 White; the Negro furnished not 2 per cent. of the population,
but nearly 14 per cent. of the crime; he was more than seven times as
criminal as the White.
In the South Atlantic States, he furnished 8,863 prisoners against
2,544 Whites; not 37 per cent. of the population, but over 77 per cent.
of the trespass; proportionally, he offended almost six times as often
as the Whites. In the South Central the prison record stood: Whites
5,604, Blacks 10,381; the populations are as 6,828 to 3,171; the Black
appears nearly four times as criminal as the White.
It is often urged that the comparative criminality of the Negro in the
South is exaggerated. The White transgressor has friends, money, and
social position and manages to evade the law; the Negro is poor,
friendless, and outcast and falls an easy victim. In a measure, this
may be true--we are ashamed to confess; but it cannot alter the general
fact, only its degree. On the other hand, very many offences of Black
against Black must go unchallenged by the law, both from apathy and
from fear. These two considerations, very likely, about balance each
other. It is thoroughly decisive, however, that the Negro appears a
greater criminal in the North and East, where there is no prejudice
against him than in the South, where the prejudice is supposed to be so
strong. If we compare the states, we may see this even more clearly. In
Massachusetts, the prisoners were: Whites 5,157, Blacks 161. Since the
latter formed not 1 per cent. of the population, their criminality
appears over three times as great as the White; yet they are,
presumably, the very elect of the race--the best Negroes in the world.
In New York, there were 10,745 White prisoners and 723 Black; but the
latter numbered only 117 per myriad; hence, their criminality was six
times as great as the White. In Pennsylvania there were 5,749 White
prisoners and 738 Black; but the latter formed little over 2 per cent.
of the population; hence, again, their criminality was six times that
of the White. In West Virginia there were 320 Whites in prisons and 130
Blacks; these latter formed not 5 per cent. of the population; they
were seven times as criminal as the White. Washington City is the Mecca
of the Negro; there, if anywhere on earth, he should show himself at
his best. What is the prison record? Whites 138, Blacks 358; yet he
numbers only 328 per thousand--he is more than five times as criminal
as the Whites. In Ohio there were 481 Black prisoners, representing
only 247 per myriad of the population, and 2,415 Whites; again, an
eightfold criminality. In Michigan there is no prejudice against the
Negro, but rather for him, and how stands the court record? He numbers
only 73 per myriad of the population, yet he furnishes 141 prisoners
against 1,998 Whites--this time a criminality tenfold! In the South his
record is seemingly better. In Louisiana the Blacks numbered one-half,
but the population of the prisons was 367 Whites, 1,238 Blacks; the
latter were not quite fourfold criminal. In Alabama the
population-ratio was 5,516 to 4,484, but the prison-ratio was 422 to
2,096. On dividing the former by the latter, we find the crime-ratio of
six to one. In Mississippi, the population-ratio was 4,342 to 5,658;
the prison-ratio was 119 to 1,058; their quotient, the crime-ratio, was
over six to one.
In Virginia the ratio is over six, in South Carolina under six, in
Indiana nearly five, in Georgia over eight, in Illinois nearly nine.
Thus it appears that the Negro everywhere, many times oftener than the
White man, falls into prison; but in the North still oftener than in
the South, and not only is he relatively more frequently criminal in
the North--he is absolutely so. For, to judge from the court records,
the South is in general more law-abiding than the North.
It may be useful here to give a table of the criminality of the five
grand divisions in the census years 1880 and 1890, giving the number of
prisoners per million of population, with the increase of each division
in ten years;
1890 1880 Increase
United States 1,315 1,169 146
North Atlantic 1,624 1,425 199
South Atlantic 1,288 1,043 245
North Central 888 862 26
South Central 1,466 1,250 216
Western 2,221 2,199 22
Here the great North Central appears by far most law-abiding. The
reason is, the criminality is raised by foreigners in the East, by the
Negro in the South, by the adventurer in the West. On comparing the
total number of prisoners North and South with the total populations,
we find that there were in the South about six prisoners per myriad of
Whites, and twenty-nine prisoners per myriad of Blacks; whereas in the
North were twelve prisoners per myriad Whites, and sixty-nine prisoners
per myriad Blacks. On going from South to North, we find the prison
numbers exactly doubled among the Whites, but much more than doubled
among the Blacks.
But our tables can teach us still more. The increase from 1880 to 1890
is worth attention. In the West and the North Central region, it was
only slight--twenty-two and twenty-six per million; but both in the
South Central and the South Atlantic, it was very great--216 and 245
per million. To whom was it due? To the Black, or to the White? In part
to both, but far more to the former. The White increase was only seven
per cent., the Black was twenty-seven per cent. Worse than this,
however, in the North the White increase was hardly five per cent., but
the Black increase was thirty-five per cent.--whence it appears that in
criminality the Negro, especially the educated Northern Negro, is
striding forward in seven-league boots.
Closely akin to this latter fact is still another--the still higher
criminality of the Mulatto. In the whole United States, the pure Blacks
outnumber the mixed breeds about six to one; in the North Atlantic
division, about twenty to six, or three to one; in the South Atlantic,
nearly seven to one; in the North Central, over two to one; in the
South Central, about six to one; in the West, under two to one. Now we
have already seen that precisely where the Mulattoes most abound, the
Negro is most criminal. Still more definitely, we have these facts of
the eleventh census (1890). Of Blacks there were in city prisons 898
pure, 170 mixed--five to one; in workhouses, 1,004 pure, 333
mixed--three to one; in juvenile reformatories, 1,418 pure, 512
mixed--three to one; leased out (not in penitentiaries), 1,700 pure,
295 mixed--five to one; altogether, in penitentiaries 10,884 pure,
3,383 mixed--only three to one; whence, it appears, that the pure Black
exceeds the Mulatto more in numbers than in criminals--that is, the
Mulatto is the greater offender. This result accords with the African
proverb quoted by Livingstone: "A god made the white; who made the
black I know not; but surely the devil made the mongrel."
The champions of the oppressed will have much to say in avoidance of
the foregoing--nothing, however, that is both forceful and relevant.
They may urge that the offences of the Negro are mainly trivial, that
he is not to be judged too harshly for his penchant towards henroosts;
that such a little thing as a chicken must not be allowed to separate
him from civilization and Christianity. But the facts look the other
way. The great crimes are the ones that swell his list; his slight
offences are mainly against his own kith and kin, and very frequently
go unpunished. The court records, as in Alabama,[40] show that he
aspires to the heights of felony. He is murderous, he excels in arson,
he forges with a will. Of the crime of all crimes he enjoys almost the
proud monopoly, and he plies it in spite of the swiftest, surest,
savagest of all possible penalties. His defenders have here excogitated
a most ingenious plea. This crime against woman is not a reversion to
barbarism; it is not a yielding to ungovernable and brutal lust--oh,
no! It is, they say, a deep-studied revenge; it is an attack by the
oppressed on the race of the oppressor. In the person of his victim,
the Black avenger would hurl defiance and desecration at the whole
tribe of his persecutors. We are not concerned to refute such nonsense.
He that can find satisfaction in thus swapping off bestiality for
diabolism, let him find it. We merely note, in passing, that the North
has recently shown itself as little tolerant as the South of such
assaults on the integrity of the race. To be sure, there are many
crimes, and many of appalling proportions, from which the Negro does
greatly abstain. He does not corrupt legislatures, he does not thwart
justice, he does not evade the Constitution, he does not defy the acts
of Congress, he does not frame tariff schedules, he does not assume
divine vice-gerency, he does not water stock and crush competition and
servilize millions, he does not even buy and sell franchises, nor
divide rake-offs, nor stuff ballot boxes, nor muzzle the press, nor
indulge in other such venialities. But is there any one that does not
know the reason? The Negro is not equal to these iniquities. There fail
him both ability and opportunity. But if any one doubts for an instant
that, according to the measure of his might, he has improved and will
improve whatever stray chance may fall in his way, in fashion that
would even make St. Louis blush, we would respectfully recommend to
such a Nathanael a study of Presidential nominating conventions or any
faithful history of Reconstruction.
[40] Here is the penitentiary record for 1900:
Whites. Negroes.
Convicts 253 2,147
----- -----
For Homicide 59 366
" Rape 3 41
" Arson 3 38
" Forgery 7 42
" Burglary 34 432
----- -----
" Major offences 106 919
----- -----
Population per felon 3,270 317
But has not the last decade abated the "criminal tendencies" which
Professor Dubois so deplores? _On the contrary._ Complete reports have
not yet been issued, but the general facts lie open to view. The annual
summaries of the Chicago _Tribune_ show that the Negro maintains his
lead easily. In 1902, there were judicial hangings 144: Negroes 85,
Whites 56, Indians 2, Chinaman 1; for murder 133, for rape 9; South
101, North 43. There were lynchings, 96: Negroes 86, Whites 9, Indian
1; for murder 41, rape 30; South 87, North 9. The number of lynchings
has, indeed, steadily decreased from 235 in 1892 to 96 in 1902--and not
strangely. Atrocious as such forms of rudimentary justice undoubtedly
are, and severely reprehensible, to be condemned always and without any
reserve, it cannot be denied that they have a certain rough and
horrible virtue. Great is the insult they wreak on the majesty of the
law and brutalizing must be their effect upon human nature, yet they do
strike a salutary terror into hearts which the slow and uncertain steps
of the courts could hardly daunt. In witness stands the fact that
lynch-lightning seldom strikes twice in the same district or community.
Such frightful incidents tend to repeat themselves at wide intervals,
both of time and of place.
Finally, the whole family of facts here assembled, especially those
that establish the greater and faster growing criminality of the
Northern Negro, show clearly that education is not the cure for his
ills. Generation after generation of coddling and sympathy in the North
has not effaced a single racial trait nor raised by a single notch the
average character, moral or mental or physical, of hundreds of
thousands of the pick of their race. Nearly forty years of devoted and
enthusiastic effort to elevate and educate the Southern Negro lie
stretched out behind us in a dead level of failure. We grant freely and
gladly that there are exceptions, rare and remarkable enough. But that
the average of the Negro, both moral and physical, has fallen and is
falling measurably under all endeavours to lift him up, is a fact that
shines out clear in the light of the foregoing statistics.
But not only is it a fact--it is precisely what might have been
expected. A culture, a civilization, to be helpful and healthful, must
proceed from within and not from without. It must be an internal
evolution, not an external imposition. The impulse may, indeed, be
given by contact; it may proceed from another; but it must strike upon
a nature prepared, responsive, and kindred. It must release energies
and potencies already present and in high tension--it cannot create
them; it may be an occasion, it cannot be a cause. You may ignite a
match by friction, but not a piece of chalk.
The civilization of any people is the slow and toilsome growth of
centuries, an unfolding of the people's spirit itself. Its virtue, its
essence lies in this very fact. How then shall such a product be
imposed upon an alien and inferior race? They cannot receive it; they
can put it on only as an outer garment; it can never become truly
theirs, the efflorescence of their own souls. Moreover, in such foreign
vesture they are clumsy and constrained; they cut but a sorry and even
ridiculous figure, like David in the armour of Saul. Well for them if
it prove not to be a shirt of Nessus.
These propositions we make no attempt to argue formally, for that would
be remote from our present purpose. We rest our case on the facts and
figures already submitted. But we must observe, in conclusion, that the
doctrine just enounced is by no means a novelty. Nearly two thousand
years ago, "The Apostle" addressing the Corinthians declared: "Even so
the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God.... Now a man of
soul receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him; and he can not know them, because they are
spiritually discerned."
THE END
THE McCLURE PRESS, NEW YORK
End of Project Gutenberg's The Color Line, by William Benjamin Smith