I
do not think this would be true, because the Negro is a much
stronger and wiser man than he was thirty-five years ago, and he
is fast learning the lesson that he cannot afford to act in a
manner that will alienate his Southern white neighbours from him.
More and more I am convinced that the final solution of the
political end of our race problem will be for each state that
finds it necessary to change the law bearing upon the franchise
to make the law apply with absolute honesty, and without
opportunity for double dealing or evasion, to both races alike.
Any other course my daily observation in the South convinces me,
will be unjust to the Negro, unjust to the white man, and unfair
to the rest of the state in the Union, and will be, like slavery,
a sin that at some time we shall have to pay for.
In the fall of 1878, after having taught school in Malden for two
years, and after I had succeeded in preparing several of the
young men and women, besides my two brothers, to enter the
Hampton Institute, I decided to spend some months in study at
Washington, D.C. I remained there for eight months. I derived a
great deal of benefit from the studies which I pursued, and I
came into contact with some strong men and women. At the
institution I attended there was no industrial training given to
the students, and I had an opportunity of comparing the influence
of an institution with no industrial training with that of one
like the Hampton Institute, that emphasizes the industries.
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