E185 .61 .87 .0" PARAMOUNT FACTS IN RACE DEVELOPMENT BY T. S. BOONE Hume Quick Print, 4014 S. State Street, Chicago. iU lb 192! ^ ^i-7^r^l 1 V!3 PREFACE Time worn Histories have been but tansmitters of one of the most fallacious statements written on parchment or paper. Ancient historians were heralds of this self-same prevarication. We have seen in all of the books, (ancient, medieval and modern) designed by the other man, that we were, are and shall ever be "hewers of wood and drawers of water," for our more favored brethren. Such is but his cherished hope and longing desire, his unbridled avaricious- ness, his insatiable anticipation. The finger of scorn has been pointed at us and we are said to be a compilation of multifarious problems. Va- rious writers have taken the acts of our vile men and mag- nifiedly made them the characteristic indulgencies of the whole Race. This tome is an attempt to show the marve- lous transitional stages through which we have come and the unjust impositions under which we are laboring. This tome is a further attempt to instil in the minds of the read- ers greater inspiration and a renewed determination to more valiantly shoulder the burdens of the race in the heat of the day. This tome is a still further attempt to open the blind- ed eyes of the Race and cause them to behold the grandeur and sublimity of an uncompromising station, just beyond the veil of equivocations and yonder's cloud of tears, that can be reached only through co-operation. It has been my constant aim to reduce every proposition to its ultimate principles of truth for only by this means can order be brought out of the confusion that now exists. If the prin- ciples herein enunciated shall aid in illuminating even a few of the many dark places to be found along the path, I shall be more than gratified. T. S. BOONE, Chicago, HI €©pyright by T. S. Boorfe 1921 T. S. BOONE, Author ENVIRONMENT HAS ITS STAIN. We have been accused of being a race of slug- gards, never having held a lofty place in the affairs of men and nations But such accusations are untrue for we have many clarified statements about the rule of E- thiopia kiiown today as Absyinia. The Abvssinians boast in vociferous tones of the fact that they have never been subjugated. Unfortu- nate' . for us we were so located that there was no need ever present and we deliberately slept the while away. Isolated we were by the very inferiority of our intelli- gence and the absolute absence of culture, from the civilized world around us. We made no efforts to cul- tivate our powers of thought, for we laid m the lanri of sunny hue, covered by the rust^'c le?ves of time.,\yith no desire to produce or build. The oHmatic conditio^^ were too favorable and the soil tno heavilv laden with purple fruits. Because of the fact that there were no pressing conditions to stare us in the face, no lack of vegetation to kiss our lips,, and no nerd of wearing an- parel to shelter our bodies, from the winds o^ — --ny wm- ters, we found ourselves but tools in the iron hand of the oppressor, who had been driven to, action by the frequent appearance of deprivation. This different cli- matic condition which drove the oppressor to action also drove. him to think: and having learned to th;nk he proved himself the master of us, who were not so for- tunate. , , , ,. , By the oppressors pbili^-'' ^o think he soon vf^p\\\7,<^a in us a orlowing "n^en't and ra^'dp us the slav*"? of his de- sire.. Tt was this ^-houQrht th^t ^^^'(^ us civili'^^tion. Being a people from an ignorant provincial world subjected to the yoke of bondage, without a knowledge of the use of implements, without an understanding of the customs of the oppressor, we diligently and faith- fully set ourselves to the grave tasks that were heaped upon us. As such serfs, under the iron rule of the op- pressor, we grew into the likeness and nature of "hew- —2— ers oi wood and drawers oi water." Because of the great impressions maae upon the minds of the some of .40 uuiiiig uiutte ucirK uays, we suii linger in a sleep that seems to Know no iignc, and we are constantly visited m oui- aieaiiis oy uue who places hign tne writings on the wail" Hewers of wood and drawers of water." we Set ourselves to the task of learning by imita- tion, following witn a scrutinizing eye every movement aiiu aLuempiu.g- to put the action in play at every permiss- able time.. Through our great imitative ability we were auon able to piociuce two or tnree loias more than the op- prebSjr had ever before reaped and he soon realized the fact that we were a colossal asset; yet the thought never entered our minds that it would have been more blessed L^ have produced for ourselves than to have produced ^jr the oppressor. Our participations wrote the records of our activities, and the records of our activities reflect- ed our characteristics. When the African was brought lO tiiis continent though worn with years, he still was mentally nothing more than a babe. He had the capac- ity for thought, but his former environment commanded iiiin i-n stentorian tones to never use his mental organs. The mildness of the seasons and his sun kissed plains in- culcated in him an unqualified spirit of submissiveness. ine environment, it was that, shaped the attitude of the African and the environment it is that effects the tenden- icies of the Negro. This being true, it goes without further comment that the Negro is not innately submiss- ive and therefore not inherently "hewers of wood and drawers of water." For every infant that is borned has the same num- ber of brain cells as grownups, the only difference is that, the brain cells of the newly homed infant are empty while those of the man are not. The future poss^'bilities of the infant are in the hands of its mother or those that are to teach it. If the infant is pl^^-d under the tutela,Q:e of an ignorant, sup- erstitious and pp.ssim^><-'p advoc?itp. it will become the victim of such principleless contentions, whether white or a Negro. If the Negro thought-shapers were profoundly more reconstructive, i-npfp],. more ingenuous, and harmon- iously more determined to inject undefiled principless — 3— burning as celestial fire upon the mental organism of ev- ery Negro infant's being, then would the Race loose its- self of those inglorious fetters and historians, both living 'and deaad, would step forth upon the platform of cor- rection and expunge from the faces of their parchments that sordid statement that, the p e o p 1 e"^ of the black race are inherent "hewers of wood and drawers of wa- ter." RESPONSIBILITY TO SERVE. Races and Nations are built upon the services of individuals. The basis of race development, the founda- tion of national progress is the building of a strong home. ' The home is the germ of a race or a nation. For a home ! to be a strong one the father must feel the responsibility to serve, the mother must become tormented over the e- quivocal condition of affairs and put herself to the task of rightful correction. When the father and mother in- ] dividually feel the responsibility to serve and collective]" I undertake the task of serving, then there will be unqual- i ifiedly inculcated in the bosoms of their offsprinors a tre- i mendous desire to serve, because of their knowledge of service. Teach a child the things you would have it [know and do when it is young and when it grows old it will not depart therefrom. I Teach a child the solemnity of service and as it [grows in years it will firmly anchor in its blushing bos- om the feeling that it is responsible to its parents, respon- sible to its racer, responsible to its country and responsi- ble to its Godi;o uhhesitatingly serve humanity. To build a strong race each member in the race must first render itself liable for the performance of some undertaking that will promote race progress and betterment, and collectively go about the carrying-out of such a program. America was able to break the iron grasp of her oppressor, because Crispus Attucks felt the responsibility to serve and on that memorable day. Mar. '5, 1770, defied the call of the foe an dstepped out the first to give his life on the auction-block of time, that A^ merica free might live. George Washington felt the responsibility to serve, and crossed the Delaware, waving high in the air of purity the cherished flag of Hope, inspiring others to follow as he led. The Church must act as an authorized c»gent in — 4— teaching men the golden lesson of "service." The church is the greatest institution the world holds, the Negro is the most despised subject America holds; it therefore behooves the Negro to ally himself with the most potent force for right and learn that great principle taught by the "Faultless one." The Negro must grasp every opportunity to serve, for therein the secret of all great success is found. The church must be accepted as the filling station for the Ne- gro. When dissappointments are ever near, scarlet tasks bedeck the pathway to success and criticisms are heaped as high as mountains from the outside world, the Negro must without fear or trembling take himself to the greatest peace-maker known to man and have his- soul filled with righteous bravery and his patience in- / winds of opposition no matter what betides. To be- l come powerful "service" must be the Negro's "watch- ^creased that he might be able to stand the sarcastic word." For power is acquired through service and lost through abuse. EMOTIONALISM vs. THOUGHT AND REASON. The Negro is super-emotional. He allows him- self to be carried away by feelings. He wraps the very vitals of his beirjg in the shroud of sentimentality and allows himself to be banished away to realms of super- ficial bliss. Generally, as the Negro feels, so is he. The great mistake the educated Negro makes is to markly draw himsself off from the others of the race. The emotional tendencies of the race are greater than the thought inclinations. The uneducated element, when it sees the educated element form classes that en- en':irely eliminate it, rushes to a conclusion that is void of reason. If the educated element per chance is of very light complexion, and then seeks to form classes abso- lutely eliminating the uneducated element, the uneduca- ted will be moved by its racial emotionalism to accuse the educated element of trying to get away from the race. When the educated element exclusively, attempt to enter a realm of endeavor, the emotionalism of the un- educated will cause him to harbor in his bosom insati- able enmity, that cannot be extinguisheed by focusing thereon love in its most gigantic flow. The Negro can not afford to fetter his possible cohesive formation, nor jeopardise his promising progress by evidently forming """"■ : . ■ —5— ^ classes that cannot be supported by the race's natural tendencies. The Negro indulges in a colossal hindrance when he obviously draws a class petition that puts him completely out of touch with his less fortunate brethren. Negroes should set themselves to the task of emancipat- ing the masses from, their emotionalisms, that so gravely retard the progress of the race. Compare, if you please, two cats; one a big "maltese" colored cat, that limps in the gutter. Its left front paw has been crushed and is held painfullv in the air. From the right shoulder the fur is gone, torn by a dog's teeth, or scalded by hot water. With hatred and suspicion the miserable creature, as it slink;< along, watches each human. It suffers hunger and thirst, homelessness and brutality. With painful effort it lifts its head to the top of a tall ash can, then frightened by a man approaching, hurries away. Disappointment a- waits it in any case. The can was filled with ashes. •'Tiien take that cripple cat to the cat show to behold care- fully combed silky, full fed "high bred" cats lying on silken cushions, hatred and disgust will fill its heart. Sim- ilarly, take a man from the gutter to see the first row of boxes at the opera house, show him the nicely '•nmbed, well-fed richly jeweled men of good fortunes, sitting on their velvet cushions, mistaken hatred will fill his soul mistaken contempt and loathing will fill theirs. There are some in the race farther removed in sympathy and understanding from the millions of their fellows that do the work than the long haired, purrying show cat from its brother in the gutter. Among human beings classes are separated from classes by a gulf of misunderstanding as wide as that sep- arating a cripple cat from the man that would have help- ed it. Men do not know, understand or reach each other. At the top and at the bottom a few see clearly and feel true sympathy. Emotionalism is not alone for the unfortunate, because the fortunate Negro has his charge. The man with power and wealth sees in those less fortunate, only their lack of knowledge and occas- ional lack of self-control. Those at the bottom looking up with suspicion and envy, from lives of hard, ceaseless work and dull routine, see only heartlessness and arro- gance above them. The unfortunate Negroes die, convinced that all prosperous Negroes are tormenting devils, using their — 6— power only to make feeble creatures suffer. Superan nuated emotionalism drives them to tins, and the tasK for the fortunate Negro, is to educate the masses above sen- timentality and cause them to see unblemished merit in the matchless principles of thought and reason. The Negro is governed by his emotional tendencies because he lacks thousands of years of thinking back of him. The educated Negro should hold himself out as a leader v^illing and ready to touch and form anew the ideas of the emotional element. Make the masses know that the educated Negro is not attempting to hold himself aloft so as to remove himself from service-contact with them, but cause them to see and understand that the reason that prompted the acquisition of education, was an un- biased desire to lift the less fortunate from the sordid abyss of ignorance and superstition. The fortunate must cease to ostracize the unfortunate and make "ser- vice rendering" for them apart of the fortunate's pro- gram. TRAINING NEEDED. The world is faced today with a cry for trained men and women. There was once a time when the world felt safe under the guidance of men and women, but that time has passed and its effect has been erased from the pages of civilized memory, and the clamor now is that, these men and women who are to lead, be puali- fied and that qualification is training. Races that ac- complish most are those that have trained leaders. The Negro must demand qualification from those assuming the status of leaders. The race is greatly in need of trained leaders. When the question is put to us, why we have labored so long in the valley beneath the scarlet clouds and yehemnt flames from yonders crucible of a demon's hate and vice, we can but answer that our un- trained leaders have led us this far and can lead us no farther. Ancient cities fell because of untrained leaders; dynasties crumbed, empires faded and kingdoms were brought low because of the fact, their rulers needed training, and their rules revision. Nations today are longing for the iron grasp of in- snfficiency to be broken frorf their necks. America is forced to wait on the cominfir of better conditions, for we are what we are because of the past rule of individual- ism. Our burning desire and cherished hope are, that the leaders now and those yet to come are and will be the type to prove themselves worthy of the trust and faith we now have and shall continue to place in them, by leading this our nation of boast from the barren plains of time out into thei rejuvenating oasis of immortality. There must be brought about a great reformation in the forces for christian futherance. The lamp of peace must be the beckoning signal to the weary traveler as he clandestine- ly sojourns through this sanguinary crusade of life, in order that he might be safely led to the rock of promise planted on the other side of the tide of time, as the se- cured pedestal for those who keep the faith, and who on their meandering path of doubt and tribulation were seekers to find the truth. We must focus our efforts and energies on the star of Promise and march under the waving banner of Right with thf golden determination "to become trained" burning on the altar of our lives. NEGRO CHARACTERISTICS DEPRECIATE PROPER- ERTY VALUE. In the Chicago Daily Tribune of Thursday, May 5 .1921, this article appeared: "Bar 'white area Sales' to Negro." — Drastic Rule Adopted by Realty Board. — Immediate expulsion from the Chicago Real Estate Board Will be the penalty paid by any member who sells a Ne- ■ gro property in a block where there are only white own- ers. This was voted unanimously at a meeting of the Board yesterday, following an appeal by Col. Valentine H. Surghnor, a former president of the organization, that • the Board take a definite stand on the Negro question. He called the Chicago Real Estafe Board cowardly, and declared it had always sidestenped the issue. His mo- tion followed a plea by the Grand Boulevard Property ' Owners' Association for cooperation of the realators in settling the ownership problem. Segregation Being Studied. President L. M. Smith, in urging ithe Board to ap- point a committee to meet with the property owners, hinted an important move was under way by several big financial and educational interests, which he expected ' would solve the problem. *If you provide the places, the Negroes of Chicago will segregate themselves,' said Mr. Smith. T know of a move on foot now, backed by vast financial powers, which should solve the Negro problem ■ for Chicago. -8— Housing Program Under Way. If properly carried out, every Negro in the city can be housed in one-third of the space now occupied by them. A big housing program is being worked out, but can't be made public right now. I can say that the in- terests back of it are influential and wealthy, and their plans should be ready to give out shortly." This goes to show that the Negro is not gloriously welcome.^m Ln^; n »rth and is now looKed upon as a prob- lem by his good Northern white friends. If Chicago, at one time the Negro's El Dorado, has turned her back on the black man, it is high time for the race to diligently apply itself in order that it might determine whether there i« or is not to be found merit in the beautiful idea of cooperation. If the Grand Boulevard Property Own- ers' Association realizes the need of the cooperation of the Chicago Real Estate Board to help them segregate Negroes, it seems from such an evident situation the Ne- groes would become affected with the idea of coopera- tion, and work together to avoid being ostracized in such a shameful manner, Negroes are to a degree responsi- ble for this sad state of affairs. The white man looks upon the Negroes as being a race of lazy, inactive people, never actuated by a desire to beautify and better their surroundings. One colored woman, who wrote on the bombing of homes in Chicago, ■ said, "Negroes are in a great part the cause of it all, be- cause they allow their property to go unattended and un- improved. There was once a time in the life of Chicago when Wabash Avenue wore the same beautiful appear- ance as Grand Boulevard now wears. There has been much discusr,ion as to placing the Negroes west of State, Street and south of Twenty-second street. Some men- tion has been made of this in the Chicago Daily News of Thursday, May 5th, 1921, which read in part; "Better Homes for Negroes; Real Estate men, Bankers and the, Builders >study housing relief. Plans for the improve- ment of housing conditions among Chicago Negroes are under consideration by members of the Chicago Real Es- tate Board and leading .bankers, mortgage brokers and, , builders according to L. M. Smith, president of the Board. "For many months I have been working with other real estate men in an effort to bring about an im- provement in housing conditions in the districts now oc- * cupied by the Negroes," said Mr. Smith. "In this move- 1 — 9— ment we have the assistance of some of the Colored lead- ers themselves. We believe that the problem caused by the invasion of white neighborhoods by Colored resi- dents will be solved if we make the districts now occu- pied by Negroes sufficiently attractive. The region south of Twenty-second street and west of State street is ideal- ly situated for Negroworkers, giving them the best trans- portation available to their work. The district is over- crowded because the buildings are not properly design- ed, built and equipped to house people efficiently. With- out electing any new building, uut merely ren.odeling and modernizing existing structures hundreds of families who are forced to move into other neighborhoods could be provided with suitable homes. We have tried to in- terest contractors and builders whose equipment is now idle because of the building tieup to undertake the re- mod^lng of these structures and we now have identifi- cations that our efforts are bearing fruit. At the same time we have encouraging reports from members who are attempting to interest bankers in the financing of new housing projects in the district. Some money has already been raised for this work, but not nearly enough. Any person who knows anything about this district in Chicago, win readily concur that such a place would not be sought by those loc"dH^^ed by a certain organization of grocers and butchers m the City of Des Moines, known as the Des Momes Retail Grocers' Association rented booths to such persons as desired to exhibit or exploit their war- ^L?i/''''^^'^"jr'r.*^'^^^^^ "'^^^" «^id Association charged and collected a fee of ten cents from each person who entered. On the evening of the said 23rd of No- vember, the plaintiff and her husband entered said show 'A- ^ u^'i^l'''^^ ^^ presenting tickets of admission which had been purchased of said Grocers' Association which tickets were received at the door and plaintiff and her husband admitted as were numerous other persons at the same time and in the same manner. The enter- tainment of said "show" consisted for the most part in the inspecting and tasting of the wares of the so-called exhibitors having rented booths therein and among these was the appellee, F. J. Lane, who was acting at —14— manager of the booth of defendant, the J. H. Bell Coffee Company of Chicago, and whose business it was to exhib- it a certain bi-and oi coffee manufactured by r,aid com- pany by serving or causing to be served a small cup of said coifee, hot, in liquid form, and prepared as for table use to such of the patrons of said show as visited said booth. After visiting a number of the said booths in said "show" among them the booths of the Lane Bros. Coffee Company of Des Moines, Iowa, and having been served in e