Part 3
(3). There is still another force that we can utilize in the great struggle that we are making against our enemies, and that is the force that lies in effectual, fervent prayer, the force that links us with God, with the Mighty God. We have the reputation of being a religious people. I don’t know whether we are really religious or not. We have, I know, a great many professors of religion among us; but as to whether there is a great deal real true religion, which consists in loving God and in keeping his commandments, among us, may be a question. One thing I know, however, in the days of slavery, when the iron heel of physical oppression was upon our necks, there were many, many of the fathers and mothers of the race who believed in God and in the power of prayer, and who by day and by night, in the cotton fields and in the rice swamps, sent up their petitions to heaven. And while I know that Garrison and Philips and the noble band of anti-slavery worker labored earnestly and faithfully to quicken the national conscience; and that the armies of the North, under Grant, and Sherman, and Sheridan and others, marched in the South and grappled in a death struggle with the forces of rebellion; and that Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation, nevertheless, I believe that among the mightiest forces that wrought for the slave were the prayers which they themselves sent up to Almighty God. Prayer became a power in their hands mightier than armies and proclamations. And that power we can wield to-day and ought to be wielding it. God can do wonders for us if we will rely upon him, if we will put our trust in him. He can soften the hard hearts of our enemies; he can raise up friends for us; he can open ways for us that we know not of. I have just been reading over the Book of Esther, known as the book of God’s Providential Care. How wonderfully did he interpose in behalf of the Jews; but it came as the result of days of fasting and prayer. When Esther suggested three days of fasting and prayer, everything seemed to be against them. Their arch enemy was highest in the favor of the king; and he had not only obtained permission to destroy the Jews throughout the empire, but the decree had already been issued and the day fixed for its execution. It was at this juncture that earnest, incessant prayer was made to Jehovah, and the result was the man that sought their ruin was hurled from power, and hurled into eternity to answer at a higher than earthly tribunal for his infamous conduct. We, as a people, would do well to ponder carefully the words of Esther to Mordicai in our struggle against the enemies in this country that are bent on our destruction just as truly as Haman was bent on the destruction of the Jews, and for the same reason, because we are not disposed to bow and cringe and debase ourselves before them. The statement is “When Haman saw that Mordicai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath.” It was then that he formed the determination to destroy, not only Mordicai, but the whole race with which he was identified. And at the bottom it is the same spirit against which we have to struggle in this country. If we were willing to efface ourselves, to accept the position assigned us by our enemies there would be no trouble. The thing that offends, that excites the ire of the whites is the assertion or exhibition of manhood on the part of the Negro; it is because he has the temerity to claim for himself what they claim for themselves, and precisely on the same ground. The thought of the Negro as a slave has so taken possession of them as to entirely obliterate from their minds the thought of him as a man and citizen. And these are the people who are in the seat of power; these are the people who have the ears of the country, the people who control, largely, the press and pulpit, the business and labor organizations, and who command, in virtue of their wealth, the best legal talents of the country. We seem to be hopelessly in their power, as hopelessly as the Jews seemed to be in the power of Haman. But Haman did not succeed in carrying out his diabolical purpose; and the power that checked him, and that overthrew him, was the power of prayer. We, as a race, must use this power more than we have been in the habit of doing. Those among us, in every community, who believe in God, and who are trying earnestly to serve him in sincerity, for unless we are our prayers will avail nothing, should make it a business to take our race troubles to him as well as our individual and family troubles. God has promised to help, and to help right early if we call upon him. And this is what we must do; and do more largely than we have been in the habit of doing. The exhortation of the apostle is, “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”--Phil. 4:6. A praying race or people has nothing to fear from enemies, however numerous or powerful. And the sooner we learn this the better it will be for us.
And now with the thought of Gideon’s Band before us, the thought of the kind of men they were, and what they accomplished under the divine direction, and in reliance upon God, in view of the adverse influences against which we have to contend, we may well ask ourselves the question:
(1). Are we seeking, as members of this race, to possess the noble qualities of the men of Gideon’s Band? They were men of character; men of courage; men dominated by a great purpose; men who fully realized the seriousness of the business in which they were engaged: they were not of the giddy, frivolous, pleasure-seeking, namby pamby type that is so often met with to-day, especially among our young people, and, often, it is no better among the older ones.
(2). Are we binding ourselves together in Gideon Bands in every community, to help uplift the race; to help battle against the evils which tend to drag us down, to undermine our health, our character, our good name? Are we coming to realize, more and more, the importance of cooperation, of working together for the general good?
(3). Are we, in our personal character and conduct, in all our bearings and relations so clearly, so distinctly of Gideon’s Band--so unquestionably on the side of what is best and noblest, as to be a steady uplifting influence for good among ourselves: and in our contact and relation with the whites, as to lead them to think more highly of the race because of what they see and know of us? Gideon Bands we need everywhere--men and women of the highest character, whose clean pure lives will be not only an incentive to the race to live nobly, but also an unanswerable argument against the traducers of the race. We cannot, as a race, present in any considerable numbers, men and women conspicuous for moral and spiritual worth without producing a favorable impression for the race. Gideon Bands everywhere are needed, for work within the race, and for work without the race, upon those who need to be mollified, changed, converted. Such bands should not only be organized, but we should see to it, that we are members of them.
(4). Are we keeping alive within our own breasts, as individuals, and within the consciousness of the race the value of citizenship and of citizenship rights? It is our duty to cherish these rights ourselves, and to instill into our children a like appreciation of them. And it is our duty also, and the duty of our children to stand up manfully for them. It may not be a popular thing to do, but it must be done nevertheless. We may not be able to hold the pass of Thermopylæ, but it should never be surrendered. It may be taken, but it should be only when there is no one left to hold it. It is always more glorious to perish in a righteous cause than to survive with dishonor. And I believe as long as there is a spark of manhood left in the race the struggle for our rights, as American citizens, will go on. I do not believe that the time will ever come, when the Negro will be quiescent on his rights until those rights are fully accorded to him.
The call that I am making to this race to-day is for the self-respecting men and women of it, in every community, to band themselves together for the building up of character; for the setting up of lofty ideals; for the maintenance of a high standard of morals among men as well as women; for waging uncompromising warfare against all the forces of corruption--against the saloon, the gambling den, the bawdy house and every other demoralizing institution; for keeping alive in the race an interest in matters civil and political; and for active, aggressive work in resisting encroachments upon our rights. It is a call, I trust, that will be heeded; that, all over this land, there will be a rallying of the better elements of the race in concerted effort for race betterment; for enlarged opportunities; and for the full enjoyment of all of our rights as American citizens.
Once in four years, in connection with a Presidential Inauguration, is a good time to look each other in the face; to reaffirm our principles; and to pledge ourselves anew to go fearlessly forward in the good work which we have begun. If we do our part faithfully--if we work; if we do right; if we eschew evil; if we put our trust in God and make his word a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, there is no power anywhere that can defeat us in our purpose to rise to the full measure of a man, and to the full enjoyment of all the rights that belong to us as American citizens. We cannot fail; we will not fail, if we are wise, active, wide-awake, persistent, resistant, in earnest. Our future is largely within our own hands.
“In the field of destiny, We reap as we have sown,”
is what the poet says. And that is true of races as well as individuals. It is important that we realize this, and that every latent energy within us, as a race, be aroused and enlisted in the great work of sowing such seeds as will insure a glorious harvest. If we sow frivolity, idleness, improvidence, intemperance; if we are lax in morals, if we put material things above spiritual things, if we are indifferent to our rights, as citizens, if we are content to be like dumb driven cattle, we will reap accordingly. And vice versa, if we discourage frivolity, idleness, improvidence, intemperance, if we insist upon enforcing a high standard of morals, if we put spiritual things above material things, if we stand up for our rights as men, and cultivate a divine unrest, keeping the eyes of the soul ever turned towards the heights, we will also reap accordingly. Every thing depends upon the sowing, and therefore let every member of this race, in the consciousness of his or her responsibility, say, as one of old, “God do so to me and more also,” if, in my personal character and life, in what I may do or say, I sow anything that will jeopardize the moral, economic, or political future of this race. If we, in this generation, will sow in the hearts of our people the right kind of seeds--seeds of morality, and religion, of civil and political equality, the next generation will catch our spirit and go on sowing the same kind of seeds, and when the harvest time comes we know what the reaping will be. Up then every member of this race! Let us do our level best to ensure a good harvest--a harvest of good men and women and children, of God-fearing men and women and children, of men, women, and children who know what their rights are and how to maintain them. To this end let every one of us here this morning pledge ourselves, and go forth with the solemn purpose and determination to inoculate every man, woman, and child of the race, with the same spirit, with the same purpose, with the same determination.
Transcriber’s Note:
Changes to the original publication have been made as follows:
Page 4 enemies that harrassed them _changed to_ enemies that harassed them
an delivered us into _changed to_ and delivered us into
Page 8 three companies blew the trumpets _changed to_ three companies blew the trumpets”
Page 9 land a Ozama and _changed to_ land an Ozama and
tendencies that lead inevitablly _changed to_ tendencies that lead inevitably
Page 12 cause of right _changed to_ the cause of right
Page 14 upon our civil and poltical _changed to_ upon our civil and political
Page 15 under laws which are are made _changed to_ under laws which are made
reason except except _changed to_ reason except
Page 16 to our race along all line _changed to_ to our race along all lines
Page 18 at a higher than earthly tribunals _changed to_ at a higher than earthly tribunal