Washington, April 1st, 1872.
ADVICE TO THE COLORED PEOPLE.
Letter to the National Convention of Colored People at New Orleans, April 7, 1872.
Washington, April 7, 1872.
MY DEAR SIR,—In reply to your inquiry, I make haste to say, that, in my judgment, the Colored Convention should think more of principles than of men,—except so far as men stand for principles. Above all, let them insist on the rights of their own much-abused and insulted people.
It is absurd for anybody to say that he “accepts the situation,” and then deny the equal rights of the colored man. If the “situation” is accepted in good faith, it must be entirely,—including not merely the abolition of Slavery and the establishment of equal suffrage, but also all those other rights which are still denied or abridged. There must be complete equality before the law, so that in all institutions, agencies, or conveniences, created or regulated by law, there can be no discrimination on account of color, but a black man shall be treated as a white man.
In maintaining their rights, it will be proper for the Convention to invoke the Declaration of Independence, so that its principles and promises shall become a living reality, never to be questioned in any way, but recognized always as a guide of conduct and a governing rule in the interpretation of the National Constitution, being in the nature of a Bill of Rights preceding the Constitution.