History of the American Negro in the Great World War / His Splendid Record in the Battle Zones of Europe; Including a Resume of His Past Services to his Country in the Wars of the Revolution, of 1812, the War of Rebellion, the Indian Wars on the Frontier, the Spanish-American War, and the Late Imbroglio With Mexico

by William Allison Sweeney

With the leaven of thought which has been working at home, added to the new and illuminating; more liberal viewpoint regarding the Negro attained by the American whites who served with him in France, will come; is already born, a new national judgment and charity of opinion and treatment, that will not abate; will grow and flourish through the coming years, a belated sense of justice and restitution due the Negro; a most wholesome sign of shame and repentance upon the part of the nation. The old order based on slavery and environment; the handicap of "previous condition" has passed. Will never return! THAT, or the "Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of Man" is, and always was, an iridescent dream; a barren ideality!

The new America owes much of its life to the Negro; guaranteed through centuries of a devotion, than which, there has been nothing like it; you seek in vain for a counterpart; a patriotism and suffering and shed blood; the splendor and unselfishness of which will germinate and flower through the ages; as long as history shall be read; to the last moment of recorded time.

In days to come, now on the way, men will say, one to another: "How could it have been that those faithful Blacks; those loyal citizens; whose toil enriched; whose blood guaranteed the perpetuity of our institutions; were discriminated against—WRONGED?"

In a country based and governed on the principle that all men are free and equal, discrimination or special privilege will eat at the heart of national life. Capital must not have special advantages over labor; neither labor over capital. Jew and Gentile, protestant and catholic, Negro and White men, must be equal; not alone in the spirit of the law but in the application of it. Not alone in the spirit of industrialism, commerce and ordinary affairs of life, but in their interpretation and application as well.

Social discriminations and distinctions may prevail with no great danger to the body politic, so long as people do not take them too seriously—do not mistake the shadow for the substance, and regard them the paramount things of life.

Obviously the Negro no less than the Caucasian, has a right, and no government may challenge it, to say who his associates shall be, who he shall invite into his house, but such rights are misconstrued and exceeded when carried to the point of proscribing, oppressing or hampering the development of other men, regardless of the nationality of their competitors.

The logical growth of achievement for the Negro is first within the lines of his own race, but, all things being equal; genius being the handmaiden of no particular race or clime, he is not to be hindered by the law of the land, the prejudice of sections or individuals, from seeking to climb to any height.

The bugbear and slander, raised and kept alive by that section of the land south of the imaginary line, to wit: that the Negro was ambitious for "racial equality," only is entitled to reference in these pages for the purpose of according it the contempt due it. That the whites of the country have not a complete monopoly of those unpleasing creatures known as "tuft hunters" and "social climbers," is no doubt true, but that the Negro, as represented by intelligence and race pride, ever worries over it; cares a rap for it, is not true.

Humanity's great benefit coming from the war, which cannot be changed or abridged, will consist of a newer, broader sense of manhood; a demand for the inherent opportunities and rights belonging to it; for all men of all colors, of all climes; and beyond that; of more significance; as marking the dawn indeed of a NEW AND BETTER DAY, will be a larger, juster sense; springing up in the nation's heart; watered by her tears, of repentance of past wrongs inflicted on the Negro. The Negro will become the architect of his own growth and development. The South will not be permitted; through the force of national opinion, to continue to oppress him.

The talk of the revival of KuKlux societies to intimidate the Negro; "to keep him in his place," is the graveyard yawp of a dying monster. Are the thousands of Negroes who faced bullets in the most disastrous war of history, and several hundred thousand more who were ready and willing to undergo the same perils, likely to be frightened by such a threat, such an antiquated, silly, short-sighted piece of injustice and terrorism?