A very sure and hopeful sign is the fact that the Negro is ashamed of any immoral conduct which he hears has been committed by any member of his race. The mere desire of better things is indicative of a better state of affairs. A straw often shows which way the wind is blowing. It is a historical fact that any race which has been subdued and ruled over by another race will imbibe, imitate and copy after the dominant race, and especially is this true if the conquered race live in and among the conquering race. It follows, then, that if the Negro is wholly immoral, his white neighbor needs to move a pace in the moral world.
Other causes might have been assigned accounting for the Negro's previous immorality, but slavery comprehends them all. But for the sake of emphasis and showing the contrast, let us note the following: Granting that the Negro as a mass is ignorant. Is he as ignorant as he was? If he is, then in what light shall we regard the philanthropists of this country North and South who have done and are doing so much for the Negro's elevation? The public school system, so well organized and maintained throughout this country, and patronized so largely by the Negro youth, either means the Negro's advancement morally or a lack of wisdom on the part of those who administer the nation's affairs. I realize that a people could advance intellectually without advancing morally at the same time. But such is not possible in this country where the Bible is made the basis of our education. A mere reference to this topic is all that is needed.
The Negro is poverty stricken, this needs no demonstration. But is he as poor as he has been? The banks, county records and business enterprises of the country are living witnesses to the Negro's advancement along this line. How could a man wholly depraved come into such relationship with a moral man and get along so well? "How can two walk together except they be abreed," asks the faithful prophet.
The time was when the Negro could not take out a policy in a life insurance company, because he was regarded immoral, and would soon die out and bring the company under obligations to his estate. To-day the Negro can hold a policy in almost any insurance company of whatever nature it may be. This is a case where the Negro's advancement in morals is admitted and he himself not a judge in the case. Negro lawyers consult with white lawyers, Negro doctors consult with white doctors, Negro teachers consult with white teachers, Negro preachers consult with white preachers, Negro workmen of whatever kind confer with the whites of like occupation, and, sometimes, the process is reversed, the white mechanics go to the Negro mechanics for counsel. In all of this, the Negro's upward march is admitted. And there is no advancement worthy of the name of advancement that does not include moral strength, worth and improvement.
We hail with joy the rapidly approaching time, under the sunlight of civilization and Christianity, when the color of the skin and the texture of the hair will not be badges of reproach, humiliation, degradation and contempt. True merit will yet be the worth of the man, under the wise and just government of a beneficent God and Father, who "of one blood made all nations for to dwell upon the face of all the earth." The poet Burns labored under no misapprehension when he wrote the following lines:
"Is there for honest poverty
Wha hangs his head, and a' that?
The coward slave! we pass him by;
We dare be poor for a' that—
For a' that, and a' that,
Our toils obscure, and a' that!
The rank is but the guinea's stamp—
The man's the gowd for a' that.
"What, though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hodden pray, and a' that?
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine;
A man's a man for a' that—
For a' that, and a' that,
Their tinsel show, and a' that;
The honest man, though e'er sae poor,
Is king o' men for a' that.
"A prince can mak a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, and a' that;
But an honest man's aboon his might—
Guid faith, he maunna fa' that!
For a' that, and a' that,
Their dignities and a' that;
The pith o' sense and pride o' worth
Are higher ranks than a' that.
"Then let us pray that come it may—
As come it will, for a' that—
That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth,
May bend the gree, and a' that.
For a' that, and a' that,
Its coming yet, for a' that—
When man to man, the world o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that!"