THE WEST VIRGINIA AND OTHER RECEPTIONS AFTER EUROPEAN TRIP.
Early in August we sailed for America from Southampton, and had a very
pleasant voyage on the magnificent ocean Steamer “St. Louis.” On the
voyage I was called upon to speak again to the passengers, and made many
friends for our cause.
While in Europe I received the following invitation:
“CHARLESTON, W. VA., May 16, 1899.
“PROF. B. T. WASHINGTON,
“Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Alabama.
“_Dear Sir:_--Many of the best citizens of West Virginia have united in
liberal expressions of admiration and praise of your worth and work, and
desire that on your return from Europe, you should favor them with your
presence and with the inspiration of your words. We most sincerely
endorse this move and on behalf of the citizens of Charleston extend to
you our most cordial invitation to have you come to us, that
[Illustration: RECEPTION GIVEN BOOKER T. WASHINGTON AFTER HIS RETURN
FROM EUROPE BY GOVERNOR G. W. ATKINSON, AT THE EXECUTIVE MANSION,
CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA.]
we may honor you who have done so much by your life and work to honor
us.
“We are, very truly yours,
“The Common Council of the City of Charleston,
“By W. HERMAN SMITH, MAYOR.”
This invitation from the City Council of Charleston was accompanied by
the following:
“PROF. B. T. WASHINGTON,
“Principal, Tuskegee Institute.
“_Dear Sir:_--We the citizens of Charleston and West Virginia, desire to
express our pride in you and the splendid career you have thus far
accomplished, and ask that we be permitted to show our pride and
interest in a substantial way.
“Your recent visit to your old home in our midst awoke within us the
keenest regret that we were not permitted to hear you and render some
substantial aid to your work, before you left for Europe.
“In view of the foregoing, we earnestly invite you to share the
hospitality of our city upon your return from Europe and give us the
opportunity to hear you and put ourselves in touch with your work in a
way that will be most gratifying to yourself, and that we may receive
the inspiration of your words and presence.
“An early reply to this invitation, with an indication of the time you
may reach our city will greatly oblige,
“Yours very respectfully,
“The Charleston Daily Gazette, The Daily Mail-Tribune, G. W. Atkinson,
Governor; E. L. Boggs, Secretary to Governor; Wm. M. O. Dawson,
Secretary of State; L. M. LaFollette, Auditor; J. R. Trotter,
Superintendent of Schools; E. W. Wilson, ex-Governor; W. A. MacCorkle,
ex-Governor; John Q. Dickinson, President Kanawha Valley Bank; L.
Prichard, President Charleston National Bank; Geo. S. Couch, President
Kanawha National Bank; Ed. Reid, Cashier Kanawha National Bank; Geo. S.
Laidley, Superintendent City Schools; L. E. McWhorter, President Board
of Education; Chas. K. Payne, wholesale merchant; C. C. Lewis, Jr.,
wholesale merchant; R. G. Hubbard, wholesale merchant; Dan. D. Brawley,
City Sergeant; Grant P. Hall, Clerk of Circuit Court; O. A. Petty,
Postmaster; R. Douglas Roller, Rector St. John’s Episcopal Church; M. M.
Williamson, Cashier Citizen’s National Bank; J. N. Carnes, Assistant
Cashier Citizen’s National Bank; J. A. Schwabe & Co., merchants; J. A.
DeGruyter, ex-Mayor; A. H. Boyd, M. D.; E. W. Staunton, Clerk Kanawha
County Court; M. F. Compton, Pastor State St. M. E. Church; T. C.
Johnson, Pastor Charleston Baptist Church; Coyle & Richardson,
merchants; J. H. Gaines, United States District Attorney; Sterrett
Brothers, merchants; N. S. Burlew, merchant; Joel H. Ruffner, merchant;
M. P. Ruffner, merchant; E. G. Pierson, senator; B. R. Winkler, member
City Council; Flournoy, Price & Smith, lawyers; Abney, Barnes & Co.,
wholesale merchants; Sam D. Littlepage, member of City Council; D. W.
Shaw, Pastor Simpson M. E. Church; J. McHenry Jones, President West
Virginia Colored Institute; Jas. M. Canty, J. C. Gilmer, Byrd
Prillerman, S. W. Starks, J. M. Hazelwood, Phil. Waters, C. W. Hall,
Judge Criminal Court; C. W. Boyd, Principal Garnet School; B. S. Morgan,
member of City Council.”
This invitation to accept a reception from the citizens of Charleston,
W. Va., where I had spent my boyhood days, was a very satisfactory
surprise. When I left Charleston, and when I left Malden, which is very
near Charleston, I was quite a boy and had not been able to spend any
great length of time there since I had first left to enter the Hampton
Institute.
I accepted the invitation for the Charleston reception, and when I
reached Charleston was met by a committee of citizens headed by ex-Gov.
W. A. MacCorkle. The meeting in connection with this reception was held
in the opera house, and was presided over by Gov. George W. Atkinson.
It was very largely attended by white and colored citizens from that
vicinity, a large number of whom had known me in my boyhood days. I must
refrain from giving any detailed account of all the kind and
complimentary things they were kind enough to say about me at this
meeting. I spent several days in Charleston, visiting the scenes of my
early boyhood, and my sister in Malden, and many of the older citizens
who remembered me.
After this reception in Charleston I was invited to go to Atlanta, Ga.,
by the white and colored citizens, to receive a reception there. The
meeting in Atlanta was presided over also by the Governor of the State,
and was largely attended.
Receptions by the citizens of Montgomery and New Orleans soon followed.
Invitations to attend receptions in other states came to me, but I was
not able to accept them all.
In the fall of 1899 a meeting was held at Huntsville, Ala., the spirit
of which has since been taken up by other Southern cities, which
promises to prove of lasting benefit in settling the race problem in the
South. In October a meeting was called at Huntsville, which had for its
object the discussion of all matters relating to the upbuilding of the
South. It was well attended by representatives from nearly every
Southern State, and was a strong body of men. Among the other subjects
discussed was the Negro problem in its relation to the industrial
progress of the South.
In connection with others, I was invited to deliver an address. The
audience was composed mainly of Southern white men, but in it was a
large number of Southern white women, together with quite an attendance
of colored men and women. The address which I delivered on that occasion
attracted a great deal of attention throughout the country, and for that
reason I have taken the liberty of giving it in full:
“In all discussion and legislation bearing upon the presence of the
Negro in America, it should be borne in mind that we are dealing with a
people who were forced to come here without their consent and in the
face of a most earnest protest. This gives the Negro a claim upon your
sympathy and generosity that no other race can possess. Besides, though
forced from his native land into residence in a country that was not of
his choosing, he has earned his right to the title of American citizen
by obedience to the law, by patriotism and fidelity, and by the millions
which his brawny arms and willing hands have added to the wealth of this
country.
“In saying what I have to-day, although a Negro and an ex-slave myself,
there is no white man whose heart is more wrapped up in every interest
of the South and loves it more dearly than is true of myself. She can
have no sorrow that I do not share; she can have no prosperity that I do
not rejoice in. She can commit no error that I do not deplore. She can
take no step forward that I do not approve.
“Different in race, in color, in history, we can teach the world that,
although thus differing, it is possible for us to dwell side by side in
love, in peace, and in material prosperity. We can be one, as I believe
we will be in a larger degree in the future, in sympathy, purpose,
forbearance and mutual helpfulness. Let him who would embitter, who
would bring strife between your race and mine be accursed in his basket
and in his store, accursed in the fruit of his body and the fruit of his
land. No man can plan the degradation of another race without being
himself degraded. The highest test of the civilization of any race is
its willingness to extend a helping hand to the less fortunate.
“The South extends a protecting arm and a welcome voice to the
foreigner, all nationalities, languages and conditions, but in this I
pray that you will not forget the black man at your door, whose habits
you know, whose fidelity you have tested. You may make of others larger
gatherers of wealth, but you cannot make of them more law-abiding,
useful and God-fearing people than the Negro who has been by your side
for three centuries, and whose toil in forest, field and mine has
helped to make the South the land of promise and glorious possibility.
“Before we can make much progress we must decide whether or not the
Negro is to be a permanent part of the South. With the light that is
before us, I have no hesitation in declaring that the great bulk of the
Negro population will reside among you. Any hesitation or doubting as to
the permanent residence of the race will work infinite harm to the
industrial and economic interests of both races. Here, in His wisdom,
Providence has placed the Negro. Here he will remain. Here he came
without a language; here he found the Anglo-Saxon tongue. Here he came
in paganism; here he found the religion of Christ. Here he came in
barbarism; here he found civilization. Here he came with untrained
hands; here he found industry. If these centuries of contact with the
American has done this, can you not trust to the wise Creator, aided by
the efforts of the Negro himself, and your guidance, to do the
remainder? At this point, are you willing to cease your efforts and turn
the work over to others for completion? Your duty to the Negro will not
be fulfilled until you have made of him the highest type of American
citizen, in intelligence, usefulness and morality.
“The South has within itself the forces that are to solve this
tremendous problem. You have the climate, the soil and the material
wealth. You have the labor to be performed that will occupy many times
our present Negro population. While the calls come daily from South
Africa, from the Hawaiian Islands, from the North and the West for the
strong and willing arm of the Negro in the field of industry, you, at
your very door, have that which others are energetically seeking. Not
only are you in possession of that which others are seeking, but more
important than all, custom and contact have so knit the two races
together that the black man finds in these Southern States an open
sesame in labor, industry and business that is not surpassed anywhere.
It is here alone, by reason of the presence of the Negro, that capital
is free from tyranny and despotism that prevents you from employing whom
you please and for that wage that is mutually agreeable and profitable.
It is here that form of slavery which prevents a man from selling his
labor to whom he pleases on account of his color is almost unknown. We
have had slavery, now dead, that forced an individual to labor without a
recompense, but none that compelled a man to remain in idleness while
his family starved.
“The Negro in all parts of the country is beginning to appreciate the
advantage which the South affords for earning a living, for commercial
development, and in proportion as this is true, it will constitute the
basis for the settlement of other difficulties. The colored man is
beginning to learn that the bed rock upon which every individual rests
his chances for success in life is securing in every manly way--never at
the sacrifice of principle--the friendship, the confidence, the respect
of his next-door neighbor in the little community in which he lives.
Almost the whole problem of the Negro in the South rests itself upon the
question as to whether he makes himself of such indispensable service to
his neighbor, to the community, that no one can fill his place better in
the body politic. There is no other safe course for the Negro to pursue.
If the black man in the South has a friend in his white neighbor, and a
still larger number of friends in his own community, he has a protection
and a guarantee of his rights that will be more potent and more lasting
than any Federal Congress or any outside power can confer. While the
Negro is grateful for the opportunities which he enjoys in the business
of the South, you should remember that you are in debt to the black man
for furnishing you with labor that is almost a stranger to strikes,
lock-outs and labor wars; labor that is law-abiding, peaceful,
teachable; labor that is one with you in language, sympathy, religion
and patriotism; labor that has never been tempted to follow the red flag
of anarchy, but always the safe flag of his country and the spotless
banner of the cross.
“But if the South is to go forward and not stand still, if she is to
reach the highest reward from her wonderful resources and keep abreast
of the progress of the world, she must reach that point, without
needless delay, where she will not be continually advertising to the
world that she has a race question to settle. We must reach that point
where, at every election, from the choice of a magistrate to that of a
governor, the decision will not hinge upon a discussion or a revival of
the race question. We must arrive at that period where the great
fundamental question of good roads, education of farmers, agricultural
and mineral development, manufacturing and industrial and public school
education will be, in a large degree, the absorbing topics in our
political campaign. But that we may get this question from among us, the
white man has a duty to perform, the black man has a duty. No question
is ever permanently settled until it is settled in the principles of the
highest justice. Capital and lawlessness will not dwell together. The
white man who learns to disregard law when a Negro is concerned will
soon disregard it when a white man is concerned.
“In the evolution of the South it seems to me that we have reached that
period where private philanthropy and the Christian church of the white
South should, in a large degree, share directly in the elevation of the
Negro. In saying this I am not unmindful of or ungrateful for what has
already been done by individuals and through public schools. When we
consider the past, the wonder is that so much has been done by our
brothers in white. All great reforms and improvements rest, in a large
measure, upon the church for success. You acknowledge that Christianity
and education make a man more valuable as a citizen, make him more
industrious, make him earn more, make him more upright. In this respect
let me see how the three largest white denominations in the South regard
the Negro.
“To elevate the ignorant and degraded in Africa, China, Japan, India,
etc., these three denominations in the South give annually about
$544,000, but to elevate the ignorant, the degraded at your doors, to
protect your families, to lessen your taxes, to increase their earning
power; in a word, to Christianize and elevate the people at your very
side, upon whom, in a large measure, your safety and property depend,
these same denominations give $21,000--$21,000 for the benighted at your
doors, $544,000 for the benighted abroad. That thirty-five years after
slavery and a fratricidal war the master should give even $21,000
through the medium of the church for the elevation of his former slave
means much. Nor would I have one dollar less go to the foreign fields,
but I would plead with all the earnestness of my soul that the Christian
South give increased attention to the 8,000,000 of Negroes by whom it is
surrounded. All this has a most vital and direct relation to the work of
this Industrial convention. Every dollar that goes into the education of
the Negro is an interest-bearing dollar.
“For years all acknowledge that the South has suffered from the low
price of cotton because of over-production. The economic history of the
world teaches that an ignorant farming class means a single crop, and
that a single crop means, too often, low prices from over-production or
famine from under-production. The Negro constitutes the principal
farming class of the South. So long as the Negro is ignorant in head,
unskilled in hand, unacquainted with labor-saving machinery, so long
will he confine himself to a single crop, and over-production of cotton
will result. So long as this is true, you will be bound in economic
fetters; you will be hugging the bear, while crying for some one to help
you let go. Every man, black and white, in the South, with his crop
mortgaged, in debt at the end of the year, buying his meat from Iowa,
his corn from Illinois, his shoes from New York, his clothing from
Pennsylvania, his wagon from Indiana, his plow from Massachusetts, his
mule from Missouri, and his coffin from Ohio, everyone who is thus
situated, is a citizen who is not producing the highest results for his
state. It is argued that the South is too poor to educate such an
individual so as to make him an intelligent producer. I reply that the
South is too poor not to educate such an individual.
“Ignorance is many fold more costly to tax-payers than intelligence.
Every black youth that is given this training of hand and strength of
mind, so that he is able to grasp the full meaning and responsibility of
life, so that he can go into some forest and turn the raw material into
wagons and buggies, becomes a citizen who is able to add to the wealth
of the state and to bear his share of the expenses of educational
government. Do you suggest that this cannot be done? I answer that it is
being done every day at Tuskegee, and should be duplicated in a hundred
places in every Southern state. This I take to be the white man’s burden
just now--no, no, not his burden, but his privilege, his opportunity, to
give the black man sight, to give him strength, skill of hand, light of
mind and honesty of heart. Do this, my white friends, and I will paint
you a picture that shall represent the future, partly as the outcome of
this Industrial Convention, and will represent the land where your race
and mine dwell:
“Fourteen slaves brought into the South a few centuries ago, in
ignorance, superstition and weakness, are now a free people, multiplied
into 8,000,000. They are surrounded, protected, encouraged, educated in
hand, heart and head, given the full protection of the law, the highest
justice meted out to them through courts and legislative enactment, they
are stimulated and not oppressed, made citizens, and not aliens, made to
understand by word and act that in proportion as they show themselves
worthy to bear responsibilities, the greater opportunities will be given
them. I see them loving you, trusting you, adding to the wealth, the
intelligence, the renown of each Southern commonwealth. In turn, I see
you confiding in them, ennobling them, beckoning them on to the highest
success, and we have all been made to appreciate in full that,
‘The slave’s chain and the master’s alike are broken,
The one curse of the race held both in tether;
They are rising, all are rising,
The black and white together.’”
The most encouraging thing that happened in connection with this
convention was an address delivered by ex-Governor MacCorkle, of West
Virginia, in which he took the position that the time had come when the
Southern States must face the race problem bravely and honestly; that
the South could not any longer afford to get rid of the Negro’s ballot
by questionable methods, and that the Southern States ought to pass a
law which would require an educational or property test, or both, for
voting, and that this law ought to be made to apply alike to both races
honestly and fairly, and that there should be no evasion permitted or
attempted.
Governor MacCorkle is a Southern man, a democrat, and the words which he
spoke on this occasion received the most hearty cheering, and the
convention on the next day passed a resolution without a dissenting vote
recommending Governor MacCorkle’s suggestion in the settlement of the
franchise question in the Southern States. The influence of this
convention was most beneficial on the minds of the Southern white
people, and gave encouragement to the Negro and to his friends
throughout the country.
As I write this chapter a conference is being arranged for by the
leading white citizens of Montgomery, Ala., which is to take place there
during the month of May of each year. The object of this conference is
to afford an opportunity for free and generous discussion of the race
problem from every point of view. This movement, organized as it has
been at the seat of the Confederate government, is most remarkable. It
seems fitting that Montgomery should be the place where from year to
year the best thought of the nation can assemble and assist in working
out our national problem.
In closing this chapter I simply wish to add that I see no reason why
the race should not feel encouraged. Every individual or race that has
succeeded has done so only by paying the price which success demands. We
cannot expect to get something for nothing. We shall continue to prosper
in proportion as each individual proves his usefulness in the community,
as each individual makes himself such a pillar in property and character
that his community will feel that he cannot be spared.