WILLIAM HARRISON HAYNES
Among the four contestants for a prize in oratory at the University of Chicago was William Harrison Haynes of Nashville, Tenn. The first prize of $100, which is awarded annually to a student of this university for excellence in oratory, is given by Mr. Julius Rosenwald of Chicago.
The contest was held on the evening of June 1st, in Leon Mandel Assembly Hall. A brown face and such a title—“A Plea for Justice”—without difficulty attracted for the speaker the keenest attention of an audience almost entirely white. Confident in his skill and ability and rejoicing in this marvelous opportunity to speak before such an audience in behalf of his people, Mr. Haynes delivered his oration in a style and manner that has never been equaled in previous contests. It was evident by the heavy waves of applause, that to him belonged the victory, and when the announcement of the first prize was made, the colored speaker was hardly able to hold his position because of the crowd that thronged about him to extend congratulations and to express lofty words of praise.
Mr. Haynes, an A. B. from Morehouse College of the class of 1915, came to the University of Chicago last fall and shortly after was made a member of the Varsity Debating team. He debated for Chicago twice, winning both times, and on the day of his graduation he was given an elegant gold watch fob by the Delta Sigma Rho debating fraternity as a token of appreciation of his good fellowship and excellent scholarship displayed during his short stay at the university.
A Plea for Justice
Recently ex-President Roosevelt in a speech before the Chicago Bar Association sounded the note for military preparedness. He and the foremost leaders in political circles in the United States today are trying to make the American people squarely face the issue of preparedness from a military point-of-view.
All of this sentiment for preparation may be for future military emergencies, or it may be to meet the growing responsibility of the nation. In either case, if the best results are to be realized, it is necessary that in every section of the country the fundamental principles upon which our democracy is based shall be properly administered. If we are to be really prepared for any emergency, then the vital principles of this government must be understood by every man. Every section of our great country and every man in it must know that this country stands for justice and equal opportunities to all, and that each man is to be permitted to work out and develop himself to his highest powers. Yet there is a section of our country where every day the basic principles on which our government is founded are being violated. Every day sees men subjected to injustice and arbitrary discrimination. Every day sees men deprived of that opportunity and equal protection of the laws which have been so cherished by the American people. If preparedness means the development of manhood and womanhood in order that we shall be able to repel the injustice of a foreign invader, then we must begin by granting justice to those here at home. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I wish to speak to you on one phase of the great American problem—the relation of the Negro to the South, and the South to the Nation.
Allow me to present briefly, if you please, an analysis of the most prevalent forms of injustice that are practiced in the South today. In the matter of suffrage, six states in the South have in practice laws which virtually take away the right of the colored man to vote. Politicians are elected to office not on the basis of their ability, but simply willingness to design and support legal technicalities which are prolific of this sort of injustice. These suffrage laws are based upon property ownership, or ability to read and interpret the Constitution, or payment of taxes; but the power of decision as to who is qualified under these laws is in the hand of a few unscrupulous politicians, who decide eligibility purely on the basis of race. An illustration will serve to show how these laws operate and the evils resulting from them. Before the disfranchisement act went into operation in Alabama there were 232,000 white and 181,000 colored male citizens of voting age, making a total of 413,000. The total number of qualified voters in the state today will not aggregate more than 200,000. There are 181,000 colored male citizens of voting age in Alabama today, at least 8,000 of whom are college graduates, and yet there are only 3,000 of them permitted to register and vote. Nevertheless, ladies and gentlemen, these people are counted as a basis of representation, and since they are denied the ballot they are even misrepresented, and the power of those who do the injustice is doubled. There are tonight almost 5,000,000 colored citizens of this country who reside in the purview of these discriminating laws, who are denied the right of the ballot, despite the fact that more than 53 per cent of them pay taxes on property owned. Can these states consistently deny the rights of citizenship to 5,000,000 men, and then in time of crisis call upon them to support the government which has kept them down? Can Americans who believe in justice and equal opportunity to all afford to see these men deprived of their rights? These people have shown that they can successfully take part in the industrial life of the South. But what good will that do unless they can protect the fruits of their labor by means of the ballot—the ballot that elects the representatives who make the laws—the ballot which elects the judges who enforce them?
We hear so much of ignorance and its attendant evils as a menace in the South, we would suppose that the funds for public education would be adequately and justly distributed. But such is not the case.