The Journal of Negro History Volume I Part 64

The third type of interpretation is represented here by "Uncle Tom's Cabin." The criticsm of this book is so subtle that it is difficult to indicate the outlines of it in a single paragraph. The difficulty with Mrs.

Stowe's interpretation of the South and the Negro is that she, just as certain Southern humanitarians of the present day, is inclined to treat the Negroes as a cla.s.s. She does not regard them as a race, a different breed, whose blood is a contamination. "No one," says the writer, "has come within shouting distance of the real Negro problem who does not appreciate this distinction. Indeed, almost everything critical that can be alleged against 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' springs from the failure of its humanitarian author to sympathize with race consciousness as such."

Finally there is the scientific interpretation of Southern sentiment, and the "race instinct" which is back of most Southern opinion in regard to the Negro. This scientific interpretation is represented by Boas, "The Mind of Primitive Man." "Ultimately," according to Professor Boas, "this phenomenon (race instinct) is a repet.i.tion of the old instinct and fear of the connubium of the patricians and the plebeians, of the European n.o.bility and the common people, or of the castes of India. The emotions and reasoning are the same in every respect."

To this scientific exposition of the Southern att.i.tude Mr. Bailey replies: "Even if it could be scientifically proved that an infusion of Negro blood would help the white race, the prejudice against a really great branch of the white race like the Jews is sufficient warning to us not to confine our discussion of race problems to the question of equality or inequality of physical and mental endowment."

What then is race orthodoxy? Where shall we look for a true statement of the att.i.tude of the South on the subject of the Negro since none of these attempts at interpretation have done justice to it? The racial creed has been expressed at different times in a number of pithy expressions current in the Southern states. Here they are in order as the author gives them: "Blood will tell"; The white race must dominate; The Teutonic peoples stand for race purity. The Negro is inferior and will remain so. "This is a white man's country." Let there be no social equality; no political equality. In matters of civil rights and legal adjustments give the white man as opposed to the colored man the benefit of the doubt. In educational policy let the Negro have the crumbs that fall from the white man's table. Let there be such industrial education of the Negro as will fit him to serve the white man. Only Southerners understand the Negro question. Let the South settle the Negro question. The status of peasantry is all the Negro may hope for, if the races are to live together in peace. Let the lowest white man count for more than the highest Negro. The above statements indicate the leadings of Providence.

This statement of the Southern creed is practically the common opinion of the South. It is not the only opinion. It is not, perhaps, the "best"

opinion. But is it right opinion? Mr. Bailey thinks it is, in its underlying meaning at any rate, but not in its "present shape." His book may be said, on the whole, to be an interpretation and a justification of this "underlying meaning."

Race orthodoxy in the South is, take it all in all, the most candid statement of the race problem; the most searching, suggestive and revealing interpretation of the att.i.tude of the Southern white man that has ever been written. The book is, however, merely a statement of the problem and not a solution. Rather it is intended, as the author suggests again and again, to provoke and stimulate--not discussion, heaven forbid,--but inquiry, investigation. In spite of the fact that the author professes his personal loyalty to the dogma upon which race orthodoxy is founded, still, by stating it in the clear and candid way in which he has, in pointing out with unflinching directness the moral cul-de-sac into which it has forced the Southern people, he has at once enabled and compelled them to put their faith on rational grounds. His is the higher criticism in race creeds, and it is hard to tell where criticism once started will lead.

ROBERT E. PARK

NOTES

Mr. Monroe N. Work has brought out the _Negro Year Book for 1916-1917_. In keeping with the progress. .h.i.therto shown this edition surpa.s.ses that of last year. Here one finds an unusually large collection of statistical material as to the economic, social and religious progress of the black race; and a brief account of what exceptional Negroes have done to distinguish themselves in various fields. It contains also a brief history of the Negro given in such succinct statements as will please the hurried reader and meet the requirements of those who have not access to reference libraries.

The striking new feature of the work, however, is a brief account of what leading thinkers and the press have said about such perplexing problems as the "Birth of a Nation," "Miscegenation," and "Segregation." The editor has endeavored to present in popular style a brief account of everything of importance with which the Negro has been concerned during the year. He has done his task well. Sold at such a reasonable price as thirty-five cents a copy, this valuable book should find its way to the home of every one who desires to keep himself informed on what the Negro is actually achieving.

The United Brethren Publis.h.i.+ng Co., Huntington, Ind., has published M. B.

Butler's _My Story of the Civil War and the Underground Railroad_. A native of Vermont, where he had an opportunity to see many a fugitive on his way to freedom, the author naturally makes his narrative interesting and straightforward. He recounts his unusual experiences as a soldier in detail but does not grow tiresome.

In the Mississippi Valley, Historical Review, II, March, 1916, appeared Doctor H. N. Sherwood's _Early Negro Deportation Projects_. This is a selected part of the author's doctorate thesis. It treats of the endeavors to ameliorate the condition of emanc.i.p.ated slaves and the colonization plans which finally led to the establishment of the republic of Liberia.

The _Tennessee Historical Magazine_ for June contains a dissertation by Asa Earl Martin, ent.i.tled _Anti-Slavery Activities of the_ _Methodist Episcopal Church in Tennessee_. The article covers the period from 1784 to the time of the great schism of 1844.

Professor Tenny Frank has contributed to the July number of the _American Historical Review_ a valuable article ent.i.tled _Race Mixture in the Roman Empire_.

In the same number of this publication appear also twenty-three pages of doc.u.ments on the _Cane Sugar Industry_ collected by Irene A. Wright. As the Negroes proved to be a great factor in the development of this industry, these doc.u.ments will be helpful to those who desire to study the bearing of the Negro on its origin and early growth.

Miss Helen Nicolay has turned over to the Library of Congress some important Lincoln Ma.n.u.scripts, among which are the first and second autograph copies of the Gettysburg Address, the autograph of the Second Inaugural Address, and the President's memorandum of August 23, 1864, pledging support to the next administration.

In _The Case for the Filipino_, Maximo M. Kalaw gives an account of the American occupation of the Archipelago, and in presenting his claims for independence he puts his countrymen in the att.i.tude of an oppressed people.

Dr. C. G. Woodson delivered at the University of Chicago in July a lecture on _The varying Att.i.tude of the White Man toward the Negro in the United States_.

A HAPPY SUGGESTION

_My dear Dr. Woodson:_ I am in receipt of the current number of THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY and am more and more delighted with it. I think it furnishes the richest source for available information on the Negro that I have yet found. The leading article in this number is inspiring as well as illuminating and the idea has come to me that it would be an excellent thing to have history reading circles organized in all our schools for the purpose of systematically reading the JOURNAL. A hundred or more such organizations with the JOURNAL as a text would accomplish two or three very valuable things, viz., promote the circulation of the JOURNAL and disseminate historical knowledge of the race so necessary to give it self-respect and pride. These historical clubs might meet monthly and include others than teachers. By all means your work should not lack for funds for keeping it going. I hope to interest the colored High School Alumni here at its annual meeting next week. I shall also call the attention of my teachers here to your publication. It is great.

Very truly yours,

J. W. SCOTT, _Princ.i.p.al, Dougla.s.s High School_, _Huntington, W. Va._