Out of the Briars / An Autobiography and Sketch of the Twenty-ninth Regiment Connecticut Volunteers

by A. H. Newton

There is not only the obstacle of instability which my people must overcome in order that they may get and hold the place that they should have in the field of labor, but the Trades Unions are rapidly closing up these fields against the Colored laborers. The basis of the opposition to the Colored people is primarily the desire to eliminate him from the ordinary industrial lines of work that he will not be able to compete with the White man. Of course, if he is not permitted to work there is no danger of competition. This is the real cause of the opposition of Labor Unions to the Colored laborer, but this cause is hidden, and the outward cause is, because his skin is black. They do not want to work by the side of the black man. This, however is but a good excuse in the mouth of the white man for it is accepted as satisfactory by the white employer. An examination into labor conditions in our Northern cities reveals a deplorable condition so far as the Colored man is concerned. He cannot get a job calling for the skilled artisan however skilled he may be. The Union will not permit him to win his bread by the sweat of his brow. He cannot work because he is not allowed to work. What is to be done for hundreds of laborers who are thus excluded from the fields of honest livelihood? There is no likelihood that these avenues will ever be opened and unless he can find employment among his own people of what value is his skill as an artisan to him and of what use is the acquiring of such a training? The only answer to this question is that the Colored laborer must thoroughly prepare himself and be on the ground ready for action. He must be patient. He must be prepared to meet every objectional condition with manliness and kindness, for the odds are against him. There are many lessons that we have learned and there are many lessons yet to be learned. New conditions in this most complex civilization must be met with the application of the principles of fidelity, honesty, industry, and the like, or we will never win for the race in this country.

Another great need of my people is the ownership of their homes. This makes the people, citizens in the most realistic sense, they pay taxes and have the right of representation on such basis. They become independent. They are then able to lay up some money. They are prepared to enjoy life in its real and true sense. They will command the respect of the White race and share with them the burdens of government in times of peace. They become producers to some degree. There cannot be said too much in favor of the gospel of ownership in this form of government. It is our sheet-anchor of hope. The money that is paid out annually for rent if invested through the right channels will in a few years pay for the rented house. The time seems to be drawing closer when it will be more difficult for a Colored man to buy good property. There are many sections now in our cities from which the Colored man is eliminated as a purchaser. The rule is to confine him to certain undesirable sections of the city. This can be overcome to some degree by the practice of economy and the purchase in the next few years of homes.

I wish it to be known that I am by no means a pessimist, regarding my people. The same God made my race that made the White race and He has a destiny for us and He is with us that we may reach that destiny. But I realize that we have our own part to perform and that it must be done on the foundation of certain great principles which God Himself has taught us in His Book. It is in recognition of these eternal laws that I speak, these principles will stand forever and the people that puts them into daily practice, will abide with the principles, but the people who violate them must go down.

I am deeply interested in the education of the ministry of the race. There are thousands of Colored preachers whose education is sadly deficient. They are really not capable of doing the work of ministry either in or out of the pulpit, and yet they are leading millions of the people. In a most peculiar sense the Colored pastor is the leader of his flock. The members of the church follow him and that too almost blindly. They will condone his faults, overlook his ignorance, and receive what he says as “The law and the Gospel.” That the people are disposed to this most kindly attitude toward their ministers is most praiseworthy, but that in many cases the ministers are unworthy of such confidence is most lamentable. It has been carefully estimated that only about ten per cent of the pastors who have been ordained are college men and that the average education of the Colored minister is not above the seventh or eighth grade of the common school, with practically no Bible or Theological training. This is a sad state of affairs when we consider that the minister is the leader of the people. And I am sorry to say that the disposition to improve themselves is not apparent on the part of many of these ministers. They rather make pretensions and hide behind these pretensions, they mask themselves behind the smattering of an education, and think that they are passing for educated men; but how sadly they are deceived. How this condition is to be remedied is yet to be seen. It is evident that the present system of ministerial education in vogue is not sufficient for the need. Out of over fifteen hundred young men who enter the ministry yearly, only ten per cent are graduated in the Theological course of all our schools. The schools of the United States doing Theological Training for the ministry of the Negro race are therefore not beginning to do the work.

I might mention in this connection that there is an organization which is beginning this work in the right manner, The Bible Educational Association, with headquarters in Philadelphia, Pa. This is an association of Bible colleges or schools. These schools are located where they are needed and maintained by the Association. By the plan of this Association schools can be established where the ministers are located as pastors and the advantages of this training is thereby brought to their very doors. The Bible College of Philadelphia and the Bible College of Washington, D. C., both schools of this Association are doing a great work. The ministers are being greatly benefited by taking the practical and helpful courses. These schools train also young men for the ministry.

There is much more that I might say on this great subject of the Negro Problem, but time and space will not allow. Whatever course may be pursued and plans adopted, it must always be remembered that “They labor in vain, except the Lord build the house.” Our plans are like the nests of mice, the straw before the wind, the dust in the gale, they amount to nothing without God’s co-operation. And His co-operation cannot be had without our obedience to His laws and commands. The people of this country of both races have much to learn of vital Godliness. The prejudice which exists in both races, the hatred and antagonism engendered thereby, the separation of the races in educational and religious matters, are all parts of the condition which we are forced to face and in some manner to meet. Both races must know each other better. They must recognize the rights and privileges of manhood and womanhood. They must build promotion, on merit and service, on ability, regardless of the color of the skin or previous condition of servitude. All must become the followers of the Meek and Lowly Christ, and they will be brothers and our brothers’ keepers. There is no Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of Man, excepting on this foundation. Whether I live to see it or not, the Negro problem will never be settled, unless on this basis.

Sermons

Acquaintance With God.

Thus said the Lord, In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: Behold I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters in the river and they shall be turned into blood.—Exodus 7:17.

There are many perplexities which are not explained by philosophers. Men of scholarly renown have by no means been able to comprehend the mysteries of God. In His Omnipotence, Omniscience and Omnipresence, He enveloped Moses, the great law-giver, but with His God. The power that was to uphold Moses was not inborn nor was it acquired, but it was God. The omnipresence, the hand that was to guide him in all his earthly wanderings was not his own hand, but the hand of his God. So that whatever of success came to Moses, God would have Moses as well as us, to know, that it came from the blessings of God and not through the wisdom or the efforts of man. Therefore, let us render obedience to our God, who has promised us, that although the heavens and the earth pass away, not one jot or tittle of His Word or of His law, shall in any wise pass, until all be fulfilled. We discover in the text the first great truth, that God wishes us to know Him.