Two Great Negro Parties
Now, the Negroes of the country are meeting the growing discrimination against them in two ways, out of which have grown the two great parties to which I have referred. One party has sprung, naturally, from the thought of the Northern Negro and is a product of the freedom which the Northern Negro has enjoyed; although, of course, it finds many followers in the South.
The other is the natural product of the far different conditions in the South, where the Negro cannot speak his mind, where he has never realised any large degree of free citizenship. Both are led by able men, and both are backed by newspapers and magazines. It has come, indeed, to the point where most Negroes of any intelligence at all have taken their place on one side or the other.
The second-named party, which may best, perhaps, be considered first, is made up of the great mass of the coloured people both South and North; its undisputed leader is Booker T. Washington.
The Rise of Booker T. Washington
Nothing has been more remarkable in the recent history of the Negro than Washington’s rise to influence as a leader, and the spread of his ideals of education and progress. It is noteworthy that he was born in the South, a slave, that he knew intimately the common struggling life of his people and the attitude of the white race toward them. He worked his way to education in Southern schools and was graduated at Hampton—a story which he tells best himself in his book, “Up From Slavery.” He was and is Southern in feeling and point of view. When he began to think how he could best help his people the same question came to him that comes to every Negro:
“What shall we do about this discrimination and separation?”
And his was the type of character which answered, “Make the best of it; overcome it with self-development.”
The very essence of his doctrine is this:
“Get yourself right, and the world will be all right.”