Numbered among our population are some 12,000,000 colored people. Under our
Constitution their rights are just as sacred as those of any other citizen.
It is both a public and a private duty to protect those rights. The
Congress ought to exercise all its powers of prevention and punishment
against the hideous crime of lynching, of which the negroes are by no means
the sole sufferers, but for which they furnish a majority of the victims.
Already a considerable sum is appropriated to give the negroes vocational
training in agriculture. About half a million dollars is recommended for
medical courses at Howard University to help contribute to the education of
500 colored doctors needed each year. On account of the integration of
large numbers into industrial centers, it has been proposed that a
commission be created, composed of members from both races, to formulate a
better policy for mutual understanding and confidence. Such an effort is to
be commended. Everyone would rejoice in the accomplishment of the results
which it seeks. But it is well to recognize that these difficulties are to
a large extent local problems which must be worked out by the mutual
forbearance and human kindness of each community. Such a method gives much
more promise of a real remedy than outside interference.