“The Negro only asks for simple justice—that is all. He would have an equal chance in the race of life. He wants better opportunities. He wants to be admitted to the industrial and mechanical trades. He wants a chance to earn a living. He is striving to be honest, industrious, intelligent, economical and self-reliant. He wants his manhood recognized and encouraged rather than choked and stifled. He wants his white brother to dethrone prejudice and enthrone reason; remove hatred and place love in its stead.”
The following extract is from a lecture by Dr. Walker delivered in many cities during the past year. The subject of the lecture was:
THE COLORED MEN FOR THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.
“True education is the development of power; its mission is to prepare men and women for the duties of life. There should be round, full, symmetrical development. A cultured brain and a corrupt heart frequently produces a demon, while a good heart without an enlightened brain may produce a sentimentalist. That education which isolates and walls off from the masses is a curse. We are blessed to be a blessing; nature receives to impart.
“We must be mechanics, skilled in industrial arts, a noble band of professional men, of business men. Men must prepare for the pulpit. We demand skill and ability in our professional men, and our churches must demand moral and intellectual strength on the part of those who fill the pulpit. An ignorant man in the pulpit is more dangerous than a quack doctor in a family. The man who preaches the gospel deals with immortal souls, and it is highly important that he be ‘a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.’
“I do not believe in special education for the colored man. He needs the same kind of education as other people. He has proven his susceptibility to the highest intellectual attainment, and, while he needs industrial training, he should strive to secure the highest possible development along all lines. Every mind was made for growth and development and its nature is sinned against when it is doomed to ignorance. It is better to have a dead body hung to one than a dead mind.
“Our spiritual development must be commensurate with our intellectual advancement. There will be a series of conflicts between wickedness and righteousness, between virtue and vice, between truth and error; if we would join the crusade of virtue against vice, the army of righteousness against wickedness, there must be spiritual progress.
“The colored man is a bona fide American citizen; he is no Afro-American; he is a full-fledged American citizen; this country is his home, and the American flag is his flag. He is a part of the history of this great nation; a part of the body politic—bone of her bone, flesh of her flesh—her near kinsman, the brother of Shem and Japheth. Our forefathers felled the timbers, cleared the forests, bedewed the soil with their sweat, tears and blood, built up the country and perpetuated its history. They fought in all the wars from the Revolutionary struggle until this time, and even now are represented in the Philippines by our brave soldier boys. It is high time that we were claiming this as our home. Most that has been said and written concerning emigration has been written by foreigners who came to this country to find a home, and now, guilty of base ingratitude, they are talking of emigration or colonization for others.
“The twentieth century will demand that class of young men who will support the dignity of their nature. Men who will use aright their powers and capacities; men who will respect the women of their race, who will feel proud of them and their accomplishments.
“The new century is coming laden with treasuries, new gifts of heaven, hopes, aspirations, golden purposes, rings and bracelets for the adornment of personal character. The twentieth century is coming with new trials, new joys, new opportunities and increased responsibilities. The new century is coming as the bearer of glad tidings, ambassador of peace—herald of the great king.