There are two fundamental assumptions upon which all so-called Western civilization is based—that of racial and that of religious superiority. Sight has been lost of the fact that there is really no such thing as a superior race, that only individuals are superior one to another, and a popular English poet has sung of "the white man's burden" and of "lesser breeds without the law." These two assumptions have accounted for all of the misunderstanding that has arisen between the West and the East, for China and Japan, India and Egypt can not see by what divine right men from the West suppose that they have the only correct ancestry or by what conceit they presume to have the only true faith. Let them but be accepted, however, let a nation be led by them as guiding-stars, and England becomes justified in forcing her system upon India, she finds it necessary to send missionaries to Japan, and the lion's paw pounces upon the very islands of the sea.
The whole world, however, is now rising as never before against any semblance of selfishness on the part of great powers, and it is more than ever clear that before there can be any genuine progress toward the brotherhood of man, or toward comity among nations, one man will have to give some consideration to the other man's point of view. One people will have to respect another people's tradition. The Russo-Japanese War gave men a new vision. The whole world gazed upon a new power in the East—one that could be dealt with only upon equal terms. Meanwhile there was unrest in India, and in Africa there were insurrections of increasing bitterness and fierceness. Africa especially had been misrepresented. The people were all said to be savages and cannibals, almost hopelessly degraded. The traders and the politicians knew better. They knew that there were tribes and tribes in Africa, that many of the chiefs were upright and wise and proud of their tradition, and that the land could not be seized any too quickly. Hence they made haste to get into the game.
It is increasingly evident also that the real leadership of the world is a matter not of race, not even of professed religion, but of principle. Within the last hundred years, as science has flourished and colonization grown, we have been led astray by materialism. The worship of the dollar has become a fetish, and the man or the nation that had the money felt that it was ordained of God to rule the universe. Germany was led astray by this belief, but it is England, not Germany, that has most thoroughly mastered the Art of Colonization. Crown colonies are to be operated in the interest of the owners. Jingoism is king. It matters not that the people in India and Africa, in Hayti and the Philippines, object to our benevolence; we know what is good for them and therefore they should be satisfied.
In Jamaica to-day the poorer people can not get employment; and yet, rather than accept the supply at hand, the powers of privilege import "coolie" labor, a still cheaper supply. In Sierra Leone, where certainly there has been time to see the working of the principle, native young men crowd about the wharves and seize any chance to earn a penny, simply because there is no work at hand to do—nothing that would genuinely nourish independence and self-respect.
It is not strange that the worship of industrialism, with its attendant competition, finally brought about the most disastrous war in history and such a breakdown of all principles of morality as made the whole world stand aghast. Womanhood was no longer sacred; old ideas of ethics vanished; Christ himself was crucified again—everything holy and lovely was given to the grasping demon of Wealth.
Suddenly men realized that England had lost the moral leadership of the world. Lured by the ideals of Rhodes, the country that gave to mankind Magna Charta seemed now bent only on its own aggrandizement and preservation. Germany's colonies were seized, and anything that threatened the permanence of the dominant system, especially unrest on the part of the native African, was throttled. Briton and Boer began to feel an identity of interest, and especially was it made known that American Negroes were not wanted.
Just what the situation is to-day may be illustrated by the simple matter of foreign missions, the policy of missionary organizations in both England and America being dictated by the political policy of the empire. The appointing of Negroes by the great American denominations for service in Africa has practically ceased, for American Negroes are not to be admitted to any portion of the continent except Liberia, which, after all, is a very small part of the whole. For the time being the little republic seems to receive countenance from the great powers as a sort of safety-valve through which the aspiration of the Negro people might spend itself; but it is evident that the present understanding is purely artificial and can not last. Even the Roman Empire declined, and Germany lost her hold in Africa overnight. Of course it may be contended that the British Empire to-day is not decadent but stronger than ever. At the same time there can be no doubt that Englishman and Boer alike regard these teeming millions of prolific black people always with concern and sometimes with dismay. Natives of the Congo still bear the marks of mutilation, and men in South Africa chafe under unjust land acts and constant indignities in their daily life.
Here rises the question for our own country. To the United States at last has come that moral leadership—that obligation to do the right thing—that opportunity to exhibit the highest honor in all affairs foreign or domestic—that is the ultimate test of greatness. Is America to view this great problem in Africa sympathetically and find some place for the groping for freedom of millions of human beings, or is she to be simply a pawn in the game of English colonization? Is she to abide by the principles that guided her in 1776, or simply seize her share of the booty? The Negro either at home or abroad is only one of many moral problems with which she has to deal. At the close of the war extravagance reigned, crime was rampant, and against any one of three or four races there was insidious propaganda. To add to the difficulties, the government was still so dominated by politics and officialdom that it was almost always impossible to get things done at the time they needed to be done. At the same time every patriot knows that America is truly the hope of the world. Into her civilization and her glory have entered not one but many races. All go forth against a common enemy; all should share the duties and the privileges of citizenship. In such a country the law can know no difference of race or class or creed, provided all are devoted to the general welfare. Such is the obligation resting upon the United States—such the challenge of social, economic, and moral questions such as never before faced the children of men. That she be worthy of her opportunity all would pray; to the fulfilment of her destiny all should help. The eyes of the world are upon her; the scepter of the ages is in her hand.
2. [The Negro in American Life]
If now we come to the Negro in the United States, it is hardly an exaggeration to say that no other race in the American body politic, not even the Anglo-Saxon, has been studied more critically than this one, and treatment has varied all the way from the celebration of virtues to the bitterest hostility and malignity. It is clearly fundamentally necessary to pay some attention to racial characteristics and gifts. In recent years there has been much discussion from the standpoint of biology, and special emphasis has been placed on the emotional temperament of the race. The Negro, however, submits that in the United States he has not been chiefly responsible for such miscegenation as has taken place; but he is not content to rest simply upon a tu quoque. He calls attention to the fact that whereas it has been charged that lynchings find their excuse in rape, it has been shown again and again that this crime is the excuse for only one-fourth or one-fifth of the cases of violence. If for the moment we suppose that there is no question about guilt in a fourth or a fifth of the cases, the overwhelming fraction that remains indicates that there are other factors of the highest importance that have to be considered in any ultimate adjustment of the situation. In every case accordingly the Negro asks only for a fair trial in court—not too hurried; and he knows that in many instances a calm study of the facts will reveal nothing more than fright or hysteria on the part of a woman or even other circumstances not more incriminating.