The Negro's Part in Racial Co-operation
in the Community
Kelly Miller, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Hozvard University,
W ashing ton
The contact, attrition and adjustment of the various races and na¬
tions of mankind constitute a problem which is coterminous with the
ends of the earth. The problem of race adjustment is not limited to any
country or continent or hemisphere, but is world-wide in its range and
scope. On final analysis it will be found that the problem of races is the
greatest issue which the world to-day is called upon to solve. Economic
and political questions may, for the time being, convulse the world in the
bloody flux of war, but long after the war drum has ceased to beat and
the battle flag is furled, the issue of race will survive in all its complex
and perplexing phases.
In the United States we have but an infinitesimal fragment of the
universal race problem, and yet our domestic problem possesses certain
unique and peculiar features which cause the student of social subjects
to bestow upon it a degree of attention accorded no other point of race
contact throughout the world. Among the many peculiar features of
the American race problem may be mentioned the fact that here we
have the most gigantic instance in history where the weaker race has by
force been brought into the midst of the stronger and insists upon insinu¬
ating itself into the life, character and destiny of its proud and powerful
captors. In the second place, for geographic and economic reasons the
Negro element is limited mainly to one section of the country, thus caus¬
ing an unbalanced pressure upon the attitude and feeling of the white
race. As a general proposition, it may be stated that the generous senti¬
ment of the white race towards the Negro varies inversely as the square
of the distance of its removal from the mass. In the third place, Ameri¬
can institutions are based upon the proposition of the equality of all men
under the law. The race question must therefore be solved in harmony
with this fundamental basis of free institutions.
Voltaire has somewhere stated that it is more difficult and more
meritorious to wean men of their prejudices than it is to civilize the
barbarians. Here we have expressed the dual aspect of the race problem
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in the concise terms of a French aphorism. How can we wean the white
race of its prejudices and at the same time lift the Negro to the level ot
American civilization? Either of these undertakings is sufficient to ta\
the highest human ingenuity. But when we roll the two into one we
stand appalled at the task.
First Principles of Racial Understanding
But even if we are not at present able to make a full and satisfactory
solution of the race problem, yet there are certain well understood condi¬
tions which must be fulfilled if the problem is to be solved at all. Our
method of approach must, therefore, always be guided by these funda¬
mental conditions. First, it is a universal principle that all peoples who
must perforce dwell together find a modus vivendi and accommodate
themselves to it. Indeed, this is true of the animal of the forest. The
moving picture camera set up in the heart of Africa faithfully portrays
the modus vivendi among the denizens of the jungle. In a region where
there is but one water hole in a radius of many miles, the elephant, the
lion, the tiger, the goat, the fox, the jackal, the fierce animals and the
mild ones, all use this common fountain. They come and go with as
much orderliness and decorum as prevails at a well-ordered breakfast
table. We may, therefore, rely upon the inherent propensity towards
human adjustment and face the race situation without fear or trembling.
In the second place, there can be but one ethical standard to be
applied to human beings, irrespective of race or color. The laws of
science are absolutely uniform in their operation. The force of gravita¬
tion takes no heed of distinctions among men, and so the ethical laws
admit of no variation to accommodate racial arrogance or pretension. It
would be as disastrous to treat the two races by different moral formulas
as it would be to adopt a double standard of weights and measures.
The physician who would treat the Negro patient afflicted with the same
ailment by a different method than that applied to a white patient would
violate the integrity of his profession. The merchant who would mete
out his goods to Negro customers by one yard stick and to his white cus¬
tomers by another would very soon acquire the deserved reputation of
dishonesty. The merchant, the physician, the druggist, the lawyer, the
business man, the man of practical affairs find that they must apply one
invariable formula to white and black alike or stultify their own con¬
sciences and dishonor their professions.
In the third place, the Negro is a human being and is endowed with
all the potential faculties and powers of humanity, albeit he may be
belated and retarded in their development and exercise. The white race
at present represents the advanced section of the human family and are
trustees of human culture and civilization, a trust vouchsafed to them not
for themselves alone or for their sons and daughters after the flesh, but
for all the children of men. Those who entered the vineyard at the
eleventh hour were received on terms of compensatory equality with those
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who had borne the heat and burden of the day. Other men have labored
and we have entered into their labors.
Integral Relations of IVhite and Black
With these fundamental propositions in mind we may approach the
question of race co-operation with assurance that our efforts will not
be in vain. It is not necessary that men should agree on all issues in
order that they may work effectively together for certain definitely under¬
stood objects which promote the common good. Men differing widely
in religion may work together in politics, and those with divers political
views may be of the same household of faith.
There are certain general advantages which apply to both races
alike, and numerous ills which afflict them both. Character, intelligence,
industry, thrift, economy are virtues of universal value. There need be
no apprehension that as the Negro advances in the scale of excellence he
will become more menaceful to the white race. But vice is a menace to
virtue, disease to health, ignorance to intelligence, and degradation ife a
menace to the decorum and decencies of life. The germs of disease gnaw
with equal avidity at the vitals of white and of black alike, and have an
unobstructed passage from the one to the other. Ignorance, sloth, ineffi-
icency, moral turpitude, by whatever element manifested, impair the
standard and tone of the community in which they prevail. The two
races should co-operate to the fullest extent to wipe out the evils and
promote the good which are universal in their scope and application.
"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin." Pity and need
make universal appeal to the human heart. The Negro makes the
greatest demand upon social endeavor, because for the present his need is
greatest and a Good Samaritan will rise up to. bind his wound and sooth
his bleeding heart. The very presence of the Negro, with his wide circle
of needs, is indeed a benediction to the people among whom his lot is
cast. It will serve to free them from that pharisaical hauteur which
vaunts itself.
"I thank the Lord that I am not as other men." The priest in
the parable wTho passed on the other side to avoid too close contact with
the unfortunate victim who fell among thieves and robbers, in character
has kinsfolk in the world of to-day. To his mind his own conduct was
amply justifiable. He reasoned thus to himself: the poor victim who
had fallen among' robbers was not a member of his own race; he did
not belong to his own religious cult or social scheme; he could not afford
to become involved in a brawl among thieves and murderers—and be¬
sides,'he was on his way to a preachers' meeting where he had to deliver
a discourse upon some topic of great theological moment and could not
afford to have his train of thought upset by such involvement. One is
reminded of the good, pious lady in the antebellum days who became
so deeply interested in the cause of foreign missions that she sold one
of her slaves in order to increase her contributions to the cause.
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Indeed, the Negro's presence, with his needs, imperfections and de¬
linquencies growing out of his state, should lead those who are more
fortunate, not to harden their hearts against his lot, but to increase their
feeling for human awakening and improvement. Let both races through
their best representatives join hand and heart in this field of human
service, and if we do not succeed in solving the race problem, we will
accomplish that which to us is of infinitely more importance; we will have
done our duty.
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