EXTRACTS FROM ORATIONS AND ADDRESSES.
In this chapter will be found some extracts from orations and addresses
delivered at different times and in different places by Dr. Walker.
It has not been thought advisable to publish these addresses in full
in this volume. For one thing, it would make the book too large for
present purposes, and for another thing, it is proposed to issue later
on a separate volume of his speeches and addresses, and also a volume
of his sermons. These extracts will, nevertheless, serve to illustrate
the lucid style of Dr. Walker and give some idea of the scope of the
subjects treated by him from time to time.
Tuesday evening, Oct. 8, 1901, public memorial services were held in
Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, New York City, by the Saloonmen’s Protective
Union No. 1, a benevolent association, in honor of the late President
McKinley. Dr. Walker accepted the invitation to deliver the principal
address. More than 2,000 people were present at the exercises. He
delivered the following:
EULOGY ON PRESIDENT MCKINLEY.
“It was said of Franklin when he died that the genius that had freed
America and poured a flood of light over Europe had returned to the
bosom of divinity. We are here this evening to honor the memory of
our late President, who reunited the American nation, was the advance
agent of protection and prosperity, universally beloved and deservedly
popular. It is highly appropriate that the colored citizens of the
metropolis of America should, in common with all other American
citizens, pay honor to the noble-hearted, high-minded, Christian chief
executive of the nation, who so recently passed to the great beyond.
“President McKinley came from the common people, and was always in
sympathy with the masses. It was often said that he kept his ear close
to the ground, listening for the voice of the people. It may be as
truly said that he kept his ear open to hear the command of his Maker,
for he had triumphant Christian faith.
* * * * *
“Mr. McKinley came to the executive chair at a crucial period of the
nation’s existence. Hard times, strikes, unrest, scarcity of money,
were problems with which he was confronted. The war with Spain was
soon waged; grave problems had to be faced and solved, and all these
he disposed of in a statesmanlike manner.
* * * * *
“It has been claimed by many colored people that Mr. McKinley was
not specially friendly to the Negro, and that colored men did not
receive much recognition under his administration. Such a statement is
made either because of ignorance of the truth or from misconception.
I am one of those who believe the colored man should not stop to
worry about position and office under any administration. That is a
secondary consideration. Equal rights before the law, protection to
life and property, the right to exist, the right to vote, the right to
earn a living, the right to be a man, the right to be a _freedman_ and
a _freeman_, the right to expect equal and exact justice irrespective
of creed, color or condition, is a greater privilege than being an
officeholder. And yet, Mr. McKinley was the representative of a party
which had enacted every piece of constructive legislation that we
know anything about for the advancement of the colored people. Under
his administration practical recognition was given to more colored
citizens than under any other president. He appointed twelve men in
the diplomatic and consular service. A colored man was appointed as
Register of the Treasury, a colored man was appointed as Recorder
of Deeds for the District of Columbia, a colored man was appointed
United States Stamp Agent; colored men were appointed collectors of
internal revenue in several States; collectors of ports, postmasters,
collectors of census returns, land office registers, receivers of
public moneys, and scores of minor Federal appointments throughout
the country were given to colored men. Two distinguished colored men
were appointed paymasters in the U. S. V. during the Spanish-American
War. In that same war, there were 260 colored commissioned officers
and 15,000 enlisted men. In the 48th and 49th regiments, the President
appointed 24 Negro captains, 50 Negro first lieutenants, 48 second
lieutenants, with 2,688 enlisted men. It is estimated that, under Mr.
McKinley’s administration, colored men drew $8,477,000.
“Not only did the President show his interest in the race by these
and other appointments, but by his visits to several of our Southern
schools, such as Tuskegee, the Georgia State Industrial College, and
the Prairie View Normal School in Texas. At each of these schools he
made excellent speeches, in which he spoke handsomely of the military
prowess and patriotism of ‘the brave black boys,’ as well as of the
industrial and educational progress of the Negro.
* * * * *
“There is uneasiness in some sections concerning the attitude of
Mr. McKinley’s successor toward our race. We have no cause to fear
President Roosevelt. His past record entitles him to the confidence,
love and respect of this American nation. He has a public record in
times of peace and war of which this American nation should be proud.
I have but to refer to him as Police Commissioner of New York City, as
Assistant Secretary of the Navy, as Civil Service Commissioner, where
he made it possible for a larger number of intelligent and worthy
colored men to hold permanent positions than has been made possible
by any other man in the nation. His administration as Governor of the
Empire State was one of fairness and impartiality. He will always be
remembered as leading the Rough Riders up San Juan Heights, through
the high grass, cutting the barb-wire fences, repulsing the Spanish
soldiers, capturing the block house, planting Old Glory on the
ramparts of Santiago, hastening the surrender of General Toral to
General Shafter, and thereby freeing oppressed, suffering, bleeding
Cuba.
* * * * *
“While Mr. McKinley made a great record as a soldier, statesman and
president, he stands out conspicuously in the galaxy of presidents for
his triumphant Christian faith. He said on one occasion, ‘A religious
spirit helps every man. It is at once a comfort and an inspiration,
and makes one stronger, wiser and better in every relation of life.
There is no substitute for it. It may be assailed by its enemies, as
it has been, but they offer nothing in its place. It has stood the
test of centuries, and has never failed to bless mankind.’ He was shot
by a ruthless assassin, Sept. 6, 1901. The conduct of the president
at that tragic moment was like that of the Lord. In the shadow of
death, as he had done in the executive mansion, he protested against
mob violence, and said, referring to the murderer, ‘Let no harm be
done him.’ Our dear dead President was again like our Christ when he
said, just before yielding up the ghost. ‘Good bye; all, good bye; it
is God’s way; let his will be done, not ours.’ His last prayer was one
of submission and resignation to the will of the great God in whom
he had so long trusted. And then, while standing on the interlacing
margin of eternity, he repeated the Lord’s prayer and chanted ‘Nearer,
my God, to thee, nearer to thee.’ And lifting up his eyes on the land
afar off, he beheld the King in his beauty, and fell on that long and
tranquil sleep, hanging up his garments in the wardrobe of nations to
rest until the archangel’s trump shall disturb the long disordered
creation, and soul and body shall be reunited.
* * * * *
“The race of which we are members feels proud of the part played by
James B. Parker in preventing the assassin from firing the third shot,
though prejudice has prevented his receiving his due meed of praise.
But let us not despair. Mr. McKinley is not dead to this American
nation. He is still joined to us by the past, and by the still more
glorious anticipations of the future. Heaven has discussed the sins of
America as Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley, our martyred Presidents,
have walked the golden streets, arm in arm. Too long have we winked at
crime, lawlessness and anarchy. And we must yet learn that the highest
citizen is not safe so long as the life of the lowest citizen is not
protected.”
From Dr. Walker’s celebrated “Reply to Hannibal Thomas,” which he has
delivered in many American cities, next will be given two or three
short extracts. The lecture, lengthened somewhat by additional facts
and tables, has been published in pamphlet form. The pamphlet contains
about 31 pages, and is well worth reading.
REPLY TO HANNIBAL THOMAS.
“Allow me to state that the author of ‘The American Negro’ has given
us a book that will pass as a well-written, and in some respects,
scholarly production. He has given important and interesting
historical information and some advice that no sensible Negro will
object to. On the other hand, he has made such sweeping charges
against his own race--false charges, slanderous charges, malicious
charges--as to entitle him to pass alongside of Judas Iscariot,
Benedict Arnold and Aaron Burr, the trinity of traitors.
* * * * *
“In his chapter on ‘Characteristic Traits,’ Mr. Thomas charges that
the Negro represents an illiterate race, in which cowardice, ignorance
and idleness are rife. In reply, I ask that Mr. Thomas read the
history of the wars of this country from colonial times to the present
days. Let him acquaint himself with the 54th Massachusetts regiment in
the late Civil War; let him inform himself of the deportment of Negro
soldiers at Cold Harbor, Fort Pillow, Fort Donelson, Fort Wagner,
Port Royal, Port Hudson, Petersburg and Palmetto Ranch. Let him
learn something about San Juan Hill and El Caney. Then ask him about
this charge. It will fall of its own weight. As to ignorance among
the colored race, it may be stated that they have decreased their
illiteracy by nearly one-half since emancipation; they have given
$13,000,000 towards their own education; they have 17,000 graduates;
500 doctors; 400 lawyers; 1,000 authors; 5 banks; 6 magazines, and
500 newspapers. At the close of the war, there were not more than 75
Negro teachers in the United States. To-day, we have more than 30,000
men and women of the race engaged in teaching school. There are yet
many ignorant Negroes, just as there are still many ignorant whites,
and the whites had a start on us of 250 years. As to idleness, there
is a great deal of idleness among colored people--that is true; but
you will find a smaller number of idlers, loafers, beggars and tramps
among colored people in proportion to their numbers than among any
other race. His criticism on Northern teachers who entered the South
immediately after the war to lift up the recently emancipated Negro
is unwarranted, as well as is the slap at Northern philanthropists
for making contributions out of their princely munificence toward
removing illiteracy among Southern Negroes. Their money was wisely
spent, as can be clearly seen in the thousands of men and women who
have been trained at these mission schools. The great men and women
who went from the North to teach the despised Negro did the best work
of their lives. Hampton Institute would have done good for the race
if it had not educated any other man except Booker T. Washington; for
he has inspired his entire race, and is to-day doing for the race
what a thousand Hannibal Thomases could not do. Hannibal Thomas is
pessimistic; Booker T. Washington is optimistic. Hannibal Thomas is
grumbling; Booker Washington is working.
“With regard to Negro men seeking to marry white women, it is untrue
of the masses. Nearly all of our men are satisfied to marry the women
of the race to which they belong. We have women as good and as pure
and as beautiful as any other race; and, as to variety, we excel them.
“I state it as my opinion that the solution of the so-called
Negro Problem does not depend upon emigration, amalgamation nor
colonization. The Negro must learn that character, industry, education
and money are the essential prerequisites for intelligent citizenship.
Let the American white man decide to lend a helping hand to his
struggling black brother on life’s highway; give him justice, equal
and exact justice, North and South, East and West.”
At the famous Golden Rule Meeting held at Calvary Baptist Church,
West 57th Street, New York City, March 26, 1901, Dr. Walker represented
the Negro race. The object of the Golden Rule Society is to do away
with race prejudice and religious intolerance as far as possible. Jews,
the followers of Confucius, and Protestants took part in the meeting.
Rabbi Schulman and Rabbi Silverman represented the Jews, Wu Ting-fang,
the Chinese minister to this country, represented Confucianism, and
Dr. R. S. MacArthur, the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, and one
of the very ablest pulpit orators and lecturers in the world, Gen.
T. L. James, Dr. R. Heber Newton, Edwin Markham, the poet, and Dr.
Walker were among the prominent Protestants on the program. Dr. Walker
was the only colored speaker and was next to the last on the list
of participants. More than three thousand people were packed into
Calvary’s great auditorium. The audience had already been kept for
nearly two hours when it came his time to speak, many hundreds having
been compelled to stand during that long time. There was some interest,
at least the interest of curiosity, to see and hear the colored man,
and it was thought by a few that there was some misgiving on the part
of the promoters of the meeting, because no one knew just what he
would say or just what course he would take. An ill-timed word, an
ill-considered expression on his part, might have cast a dampness over
the meeting--might, in fact, have destroyed the very purpose for which
the meeting was called. But he discussed his subject, “The Golden
Rule as an Individual Motto,” without one single mention of the Race
Question in an offensive and undignified way. He made his mark, and won
a great place for Negro leaders on that memorable night. Of the ten
or twelve speeches made that night, the metropolitan press the next
morning united in saying that the honors of the evening were carried
off by Mr. Wu Ting-fang and Dr. Walker. As Wu Ting-fang was the honored
guest of the occasion, it seemed courteous to couple his name with that
of the man who made the best speech of the evening and won the greatest
applause. Dr. Walker caught the crowd at the outset by announcing that
if any one doubted the sincerity of the promoters of the Golden Rule
Meeting, their doubts would be dispelled so soon as they saw him on the
platform to make an address; for, said he, so far as he knew, his race
identity had never been questioned. This sally provoked great laughter
and applause, because Mr. Walker is a very dark-skinned Negro, and the
audience saw at once the wit and humor of his statement and appreciated
it.
THE GOLDEN RULE AS AN INDIVIDUAL MOTTO.
“All men are the workmanship of the same Almighty Father. God made
of one blood all nations to dwell on the face of the earth. All are
alike subjected to sin and infirmity; all are responsible beings, and
all alike are hastening to an eternity of righteous retribution. All
men are members of the same social family. No man, therefore, can
injure his fellowman without injuring himself. We build up ourselves
and increase our happiness in proportion as we labor for the welfare
of others. With the Golden Rule as an individual motto, will come the
recognition of the Fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of
man; and when this doctrine of the unity of the human family shall be
believed and accepted by each individual, then man’s inhumanity to
man will cease; there will no longer be that monstrous indifference,
when the question is asked, ‘Where is Abel thy brother?’ that replies,
‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ Yes, we are our brother’s keeper, and
this motto will not only connect man with his Creator, but will also
connect man with man.
“This motto will include justice and fair play. Many of the courts
of our land known as temples of justice are misnamed; they are but
temples of injustice. Justice should hold an even balance. Justice
should make no inquiry as to racial identity. Justice should have no
kin people. With this motto adopted by every individual, each man will
have an equal chance in the race of life; equal and exact justice will
be given to all; a healthy public sentiment will be created in favor
of law and order; law itself is weak and helpless unless upheld and
supported by public sentiment.
“We should adopt the Golden Rule as an individual motto, for it will
produce an era of peace and good-will among men; it will become the
prophetic music of the ages. The Golden Rule will cause us to see
humanity not only as it is, but humanity as it shall be. Not Lazarus,
the beggar at the rich man’s gate, full of sores--a mass of corruption
and putrifying sores; but Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom; humanity
redeemed; humanity regenerated, reorganized, reanimated, reconstructed
and relighted with heavenly glory. This motto will prepare us for the
grand reunion of the human family in the last day. The sons of Noah
who separated in the Plain of Shinar will one day hold a reunion. I
believe in the theory of the unity of the human family, and that it
is the order of divine Providence that these long separated brethren
must meet again. Shem went into Asia, Japhet into Europe, and Ham into
Africa. At the reunion, Shem will be represented in the person of the
despised Chinaman and Japanese; Japhet in the person of the proud and
cultured Caucasian, and Ham in the person of the despised, rejected
and oppressed Negro. And I promise you that the sons of Ham will make
a creditable showing when the reunion takes place.”
At Carnegie Hall, New York City, on Sunday evening, May 27th, 1900,
Dr. Walker shook the country by an able and patriotic address on the
so-called Race Question. The hall was packed from pit to dome by an
audience of fully 8,000 souls, white and black. The speech, which he
called “An Appeal to Cæsar,” was a review of the Conference on the
Race Question held a short time before that at Montgomery, Ala., and
in which such men as Bourke Cochran, John Temple Graves, Dr. H. B.
Frissell, Governor MacCorkel and others participated, and was also a
reply to some strictures heaped upon the race in Carnegie Lyceum the
Sunday before by A. Rev. Henry Frank. The newspapers in the metropolis
and throughout the country published extracts from Dr. Walker’s
address, and the speech won the orator much fame, as well as the title,
“the defender of his race.” Following are extracts from
AN APPEAL TO CÆSAR.
“It is my desire to speak to you on this occasion concerning a race
of people greatly misrepresented, despised, oppressed and hated; a
race peculiarly situated and everywhere spoken against. I appear in
behalf of a people born in tribulation and disciplined in the hard
school of slavery; opposed and persecuted, as it has been, by some of
the brightest minds that ever spoke or wielded a pen, and yet defended
by some of the ablest, purest and noblest men and women the earth has
ever known; among the latter may be mentioned Charles Sumner, Horace
Greeley, William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Henry Ward Beecher,
Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Dr. Nathan Bishop, Mrs. Benedict and a
host of others.
“From this great hall on last Sunday the news went out to the world
that one Henry Frank, in preaching the gospel of the Lowly Nazarene,
stated in the prelude to his discourse that the Negro should again be
reduced to the slavery of ante-bellum days.
* * * * *
“I have now given you a hasty survey of Mr. Frank’s utterances
and also some of the unfavorable criticisms of the gentlemen who
were among the participants at the recent Montgomery Conference.
Now let me give you the colored man’s side. First, the Negro is an
American citizen; he is a member of the body politic; he has been in
this country almost as long as anybody else. The amendment to the
constitution did not make us men. God made us men before man made
us citizens. The amendment was only a recognition of the God-given
rights of the colored man. Second, the emancipation of the colored
race was the overruling providence of God. Slavery was wrong, and the
time had come in the Providence of the mighty God that the battalions
of the righteous army of God should march against the giant walls of
slavery, and slavery fell like Dagon before the ark. Although Mr.
Lincoln wrote the immortal proclamation liberating 4,000,000 human
beings, which was the central act of his administration and the most
glorious event of the nineteenth century, yet the hand that wrote
the proclamation was guided by the bruised and pierced hand of the
incarnate Christ. The 15th amendment to the Constitution of the United
States, under which the colored man acquired the right to vote, was
placed there after the nation had been baptized in blood, and it will
require a second baptism of blood to remove it. Third, the colored
man’s right to citizenship cannot be denied on any ground--human or
divine. Citizenship is due the Negro as a reward for his meritorious
service on the battlefield. As early as 1770, Crispus Attucks,
during the Boston massacre, led in the bloody drama which opened up
a new and thrilling chapter in American history. He attacked the
main guard of the ministerial army and went down in his own blood
before the terrible fire, the first man to give his life for American
independence. He is known in history as a soldier, patriot and martyr.
And from that day down to the records of yesterday, the Negro has
fought, bled and died for this country, and his bones have been left
to bleach on a thousand battlefields. What has the Negro done to be
maligned, maliciously assailed and inhumanly persecuted as he is?
* * * * *
“The Negro only asks for simple justice--that is all. He would have an
equal chance in the race of life. He wants better opportunities. He
wants to be admitted to the industrial and mechanical trades. He wants
a chance to earn a living. He is striving to be honest, industrious,
intelligent, economical and self-reliant. He wants his manhood
recognized and encouraged rather than choked and stifled. He wants his
white brother to dethrone prejudice and enthrone reason; remove hatred
and place love in its stead.”
The following extract is from a lecture by Dr. Walker delivered in many
cities during the past year. The subject of the lecture was:
THE COLORED MEN FOR THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.
“True education is the development of power; its mission is to
prepare men and women for the duties of life. There should be round,
full, symmetrical development. A cultured brain and a corrupt heart
frequently produces a demon, while a good heart without an enlightened
brain may produce a sentimentalist. That education which isolates and
walls off from the masses is a curse. We are blessed to be a blessing;
nature receives to impart.
“We must be mechanics, skilled in industrial arts, a noble band of
professional men, of business men. Men must prepare for the pulpit.
We demand skill and ability in our professional men, and our churches
must demand moral and intellectual strength on the part of those who
fill the pulpit. An ignorant man in the pulpit is more dangerous than
a quack doctor in a family. The man who preaches the gospel deals with
immortal souls, and it is highly important that he be ‘a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.’
“I do not believe in special education for the colored man. He
needs the same kind of education as other people. He has proven his
susceptibility to the highest intellectual attainment, and, while he
needs industrial training, he should strive to secure the highest
possible development along all lines. Every mind was made for growth
and development and its nature is sinned against when it is doomed to
ignorance. It is better to have a dead body hung to one than a dead
mind.
“Our spiritual development must be commensurate with our intellectual
advancement. There will be a series of conflicts between wickedness
and righteousness, between virtue and vice, between truth and error;
if we would join the crusade of virtue against vice, the army of
righteousness against wickedness, there must be spiritual progress.
“The colored man is a bona fide American citizen; he is no
Afro-American; he is a full-fledged American citizen; this country
is his home, and the American flag is his flag. He is a part of
the history of this great nation; a part of the body politic--bone
of her bone, flesh of her flesh--her near kinsman, the brother of
Shem and Japheth. Our forefathers felled the timbers, cleared the
forests, bedewed the soil with their sweat, tears and blood, built
up the country and perpetuated its history. They fought in all the
wars from the Revolutionary struggle until this time, and even now
are represented in the Philippines by our brave soldier boys. It is
high time that we were claiming this as our home. Most that has been
said and written concerning emigration has been written by foreigners
who came to this country to find a home, and now, guilty of base
ingratitude, they are talking of emigration or colonization for others.
“The twentieth century will demand that class of young men who will
support the dignity of their nature. Men who will use aright their
powers and capacities; men who will respect the women of their race,
who will feel proud of them and their accomplishments.
“The new century is coming laden with treasuries, new gifts of
heaven, hopes, aspirations, golden purposes, rings and bracelets
for the adornment of personal character. The twentieth century is
coming with new trials, new joys, new opportunities and increased
responsibilities. The new century is coming as the bearer of glad
tidings, ambassador of peace--herald of the great king.
“Let the men of the twentieth century arise, prepare to face the
problems of life, to play the men for their people and for the cities
of our God.
‘We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths;
In feelings, not figures on a dial;
We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives
Who thinks most, feels noblest, acts the best.’”