There is no attempt at a show of reason or right. The mob spirit is
growing--prejudice is more intense. Formerly it was confined to the
rabble, now it has taken hold of those of education, and standing. Red
shirts have entered the pulpits, and it is a matter boasted of rather
than condemned--the South is not the only scene of such outrages.
Prejudice is not confined to one section, but is no doubt more intense
in the Southern State, and more far-reaching in its effects, because
it is there that the Negroes, by reason of the large numbers in
proportion to the other inhabitants, come into political competition
with the whites who revolt at the idea of Negro officers, whether they
are elected by a majority of citizens or not. The whites seem bent
on revolution to prevent the force and effect of Negro majorities.
Whether public sentiment will continue to endorse these local
revolutions is the question that can be answered only by time. Just so
long as the Negro's citizenship is written in the Constitution and he
believes himself entitled to it, just so long will he seek to exercise
it. The white man's revolution will be needed every now and then to
beat back the Negro's aspirations with the Winchester. The Negro race
loves progress, it is fond of seeing itself elevated, it loves office
for the honor it brings and the emoluments thereof, just as other
progressive races do. It is not effete, looking back to Confucius; it
is looking forward; it does not think its best days have been in the
past, but that they are yet to come in the future; it is a hopeful
race, teachable race; a race that absorbs readily the arts and
accomplishments of civilization; a race that has made progress in
spite of mountains of obstacles; a race whose temperament defied the
worst evils of slavery, both African and American; a race of great
vitality, a race of the future, a race of destiny.
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