Chapter 16

But what of her peoples? When as a Christian Church we speak of the redemption of Africa, we do not refer to her material resources chiefly, though these are a means to an end. The one supreme thought with us is, how the millions of her inhabitants may be reached by the light of the gospel and saved. In their isolated condition, the people have for long centuries become the victims of customs and habits not in keeping with the better life which is the result only of Christian civilization. The customs and habits formed and fixed by centuries cannot be thoroughly changed by a few years of effort. The success already attained by missionary enterprise in Africa is not to be measured by the years of effort it has cost, nor by the amount of money expended. Missionary records from other fields will fully justify this statement. In all such work we may expect to have the exemplification of nature's course, "first the blade, then the ear; after that, the full corn in the ear."

One hundred and sixty-six years have passed since the Moravians, as pioneer Protestant missionaries began work on the Gold Coast. From 1736 to 1832, much effort was expended by a number of societies on the West Coast, during which more or less progress was made, accompanied with no little sacrifice, and a large death-roll of missionaries. But, at this time the missionary field is no longer confined to any particular section of Africa. The missionary has followed in the wake of the explorer and planted his stations. In South Africa the work is most hopeful. In West Africa, the foothold is permanent; in Central Africa the work proceeds, and is not likely to stop until every tribe shall read the story of the Cross in his own dialect.

Those missionaries who have studied the native tongues--of which there are many--and translated the Bible in the vernacular of various tribes, have done a work that is of inestimable value. The difficulty of language, is, after all, the greatest obstacle in evangelistic progress in Africa. If there were but one tongue to contend with, the work of the Missionary would be comparatively easy; but there are many tongues. In my own district in South Africa, we have the Bible in three native dialects, namely: the Zulu, Bechauna, and the so-called Kaffir. Besides these, we have the Dutch as well as the English Bible.

So much has been accomplished by missionaries, and at so great a sacrifice, that it seems quite out of place to suggest a criticism or complaint, and yet all the Christian workers should be ready to receive any suggestion that would help them to achieve better results.

In carrying the Gospel to an unenlightened people, there is a strong temptation to emphasize unduly the commercial element that very naturally accompanies it. Civilization and evangelization must go hand in hand, but the greater importance should always be given to the work of evangelization. In our highest civilization are to be found objectionable and hurtful elements, and these are likely to be the first to intrude themselves upon an unsuspecting people.

It is ever to be regretted, that the civilization that opened the way for the missionary, also gave an opportunity for the introduction of evils, among which none have wrought greater harm than the introduction of alcoholic beverages.

To what extent, anyone directly connected with Missionary enterprise has ever been responsible for such a sad result, we do not know; but it does seem evident that the idea of pecuniary gain has not always been kept away from the Missionary field. The acquisition of lands for other than ecclesiastical purposes, and traffic in native products, offer a great temptation to the Missionary, some of whom have availed themselves of these advantages, to the detriment of their legitimate work. It is not always an easy thing for one to become so forgetful of himself in his efforts to bless others as to be in his life, and work a perfect exemplar of the Divine Master, whose Kingdom he seeks to promote, but whose Kingdom is not of this world.

Professor Drummond, in a speech in 1888, among other important statements upon foreign missionary works, made the following: "I was taught to believe that the essential to a missionary was strong faith. I have since learned that it is more essential for him to have strong love. I was taught, out there in the missionary field, that he needed to have great knowledge. I have learned that, more than knowledge even, is required personal character. I have met men in mission fields in different parts of the world who could make zealous addresses, at evangelistic meetings at home, who left for their fields of labor, laden with testimonials from churches and Sunday-schools, but who became utterly demoralized within a year's time, because they had not learned that love is a greater thing than faith. That is a neglected part of a Missionary's education, it seems to me, and yet it is a most essential one. I would say that the thing to be certain of in picking out a man for such a field as Africa, where the strain upon a man's character is tremendous, and the strain upon his spiritual life owing to the isolation, is more tremendous, that we must be sure that we are sending a man of character and heart; morally sound to the core, with a large and brotherly sympathy for the native." These are the words of Professor Drummond, and in my opinion he spoke the exact truth; and in making this quotation, I am glad that it is from such an eminent authority; one who could have no sinister motives for such utterances. He does not arraign the missionaries as a whole but frankly states some thing that he had learned from observation.

The native African, as a rule, is virtuous and honest. The uncivilized tribes, in striving for the mastery among themselves, commit many acts that would not be approved by the rules governing modern warfare: deeds of cruelty, that made the need of the Gospel among them imperative. But, in their individual lives, free from the exciting influence of war they have rules and customs governing their home life that are entirely in keeping with the highest state of Christian civilization. To them, polygamy is not a sinful practise. Without light beyond that which comes from their own fireside, they do not see the necessity of breaking away from a practise that is peculiar to mankind in the earliest stages of social life. But they hold tenaciously to the rule, that all men and all women among them must respect the matrimonial customs by which they are governed. These customs cannot be violated with impunity, and the penalty for such violations is often death. They are disposed to be true to their professions, and faithful in what they believe. When they are persuaded that there is a better life, and induced to embrace it, they bring with them their characteristic sincerity. How great, then, is the need of missionaries who will not, by the deplorable example set by their own unfaithfulness and insincerity, lower the standard of the native.

The spirit which impels one to work in the foreign field generally leaves him without a choice as to post of duty. The first thought to him is: "Lord what wilt Thou have me to do?" And hence the missionary goes forth without questioning the race variety among which his lot should be cast. But in this day of systematic method even in Christian effort, and when missionaries from every race variety are being prepared for the work, I think it would not be out of place to maintain a closer respect for the laws of adaptation and fitness.

* * * * *

The religious field, and especially the great continent of Africa, seems to offer the greatest opportunity for the man of color to do his best work. As we stand in the open door of a new century, God is calling us to new duties and responsibilities. The preparation for this work was through a school of hard experiences, but perhaps the trials were no harder than those which had been borne by others. We waited long for the call to take our place among other agencies for the redemption of the world; and now that it has come, we have no time nor disposition to brood over past experiences. Our business is now with the exacting present, and the portentious future, and we must adjust ourselves to the new situation.

God is calling men of every race and clime to take a part in the world's redemption and face the responsibilities that come with the unfolding years. If we are found ready and willing to take our place, then may we claim the promise of His presence and help: but, if we are found to be unwilling, and unworthy, the call may not come to us again.

"Stretch forth thy hand; Jehovah bids thee come And claim the promise; thou hast had thy doom, If forth in sorrow, weeping, thou hast gone, Rejoicing to thy God thou shalt return.

"Stretch forth thy hand, no longer doubt, arise; Look! See the 'signo' in the vaulted skies! Greet the new century with faith sublime, For God is calling now, this is thy time.

"Stretch forth thy hand to God, the night is past; The morning cometh, thou art free at last. No brigands draw thee from thy peaceful home, But messengers of love to greet thee come.

"Stretch forth thy hand to kindred o'er the sea; Our cause is one, and brothers still are we. Bone of our bone, one destiny we claim; Flesh of our flesh, thy God and ours the same.

"Stretch forth thy hand: "What tho' the heathen rage" And fiends of darkness all their wrath engage. The hand of God still writes upon the wall, "Thy days are numbered; all the proud shall fall."

"Stretch forth thy hand, nor yet in terror flee; Thick darkness but a swaddling-band shall be The waves and billows which thy way oppose Shall in their bosom bury all thy foes.

"Stretch forth thy hand to God, 'tis not for thee To question aught, nor all his purpose see. The hand that led thee through the dreary night Does not thy counsel need when comes the light.

"Stretch forth thy hand; stretch forth thy hand to God; Nor falter thou, nor stumble at His word. And if in service thou shalt faithful be, His promise of salvation thou shalt see."

A PLEA FOR INDUSTRIAL OPPORTUNITY[30]

BY FANNY JACKSON COPPIN

FANNY MIRIAM JACKSON COPPIN, _the first Negro woman in America to graduate from college--Oberlin, 1865. From 1837 to 1902, teacher and principal of the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia._

[Note 30: Delivered at a fair in Philadelphia, held in the interest of the _Christian Recorder_.]

The great lesson to be taught by this Fair is the value of co-operative effort to make our cents dollars, and to show us what help there is for ourselves in ourselves. That the colored people of this country have enough money to materially alter their financial condition, was clearly demonstrated by the millions of dollars deposited in the Freedmen's Bank; that they have the good sense, and the unanimity to use this power, are now proved by this industrial exhibition and fair.

It strikes me that much of the recent talk about the exodus has proceeded upon the high-handed assumption that, owing largely to the credit system of the South, the colored people there are forced to the alternative, to "curse God, and die," or else "go West." Not a bit of it. The people of the South, it is true, cannot at this time produce hundreds of dollars, but they have millions of pennies; and millions of pennies make tens of thousands of dollars. By clubbing together and lumping their pennies, a fund might be raised in the cities of the South that the poorer classes might fall back upon while their crops are growing; or else, by the opening of co-operative stores, become their own creditors and so effectually rid themselves of their merciless extortioners. "Oh, they won't do anything; you can't get them united on anything!" is frequently expressed. The best way for a man to prove that he can do a thing is to do it, and that is what we have shown we can do. This Fair, participated in by twenty four States in the Union, and gotten up for a purpose which is of no pecuniary benefit to those concerned in it, effectually silences all slanders about "we won't or we can't do," and teaches its own instructive and greatly needed lessons of self-help,--the best help that any man can have, next to God's.

Those in charge, who have completed the arrangement of the Fair, have studiously avoided preceding it with noisy and demonstrative babblings, which are so often the vapid precursors of promises as empty as those who make them; therefore, in some quarters, our Fair has been overlooked. It is not, we think, a presumptuous interpretation of this great movement, to say, that the voice of God now seems to utter "Speak to the people that they go forward." "Go forward" in what respect? Teach the millions of poor colored laborers of the South how much power they have in themselves, by co-operation of effort, and by a combination of their small means, to change the despairing poverty which now drives them from their homes, and makes them a millstone around the neck of any community, South or West. Secondly, that we shall go forward in asking to enter the same employments which other people enter. Within the past ten years we have made almost no advance in getting our youth into industrial and business occupations. It is just as hard for instance, to get a boy into a printing-office now as it was ten years ago. It is simply astonishing when we consider how many of the common vocations of life colored people are shut out of. Colored men are not admitted to the printers' trade-union, nor, with very rare exceptions are they employed in any city of the United States in a paid capacity as printers or writers; one of the rare exceptions being the employment of H. Price Williams, on the _Sunday Press_ of this city. We are not employed as salesmen or pharmacists, or saleswomen, or bank clerks, or merchants' clerks, or tradesmen, or mechanics, or telegraph operators, or to any degree as State or government officials, and I could keep on with the string of "ors" until to-morrow morning, but the patience of an audience has its limit.

Slavery made us poor, and its gloomy, malicious shadow tends to keep us so. I beg to say, kind hearers, that this is not spoken in a spirit of recrimination. We have no quarrel with our fate, and we leave your Christianity to yourselves. Our faith is firmly fixed in that "Eternal Providence," that in its own good time will "justify the ways of God to man." But, believing that to get the right men into the right places is a "consummation most devoutly to be wished," it is a matter of serious concern to us to see our youth with just as decided diversity of talent as any other people, herded together into but three or four occupations.

It is cruel to make a teacher or a preacher of a man who ought to be a printer or a blacksmith, and that is exactly the condition we are now obliged to submit to. The greatest advance that has been made since the War has been effected by political parties, and it is precisely the political positions that we think it least desirable our youth should fill. We have our choice of the professions, it is true, but, as we have not been endowed with an overwhelming abundance of brains, it is not probable that we can contribute to the bar a great lawyer except once in a great while. The same may be said of medicine; nor are we able to tide over the "starving time," between the reception of a diploma and the time that a man's profession becomes a paying one.

Being determined to know whether this industrial and business ostracism lay in ourselves or "in our stars," we have from time to time, knocked, shaken, and kicked, at these closed doors of employment. A cold, metallic voice from within replies, "We do not employ colored people." Ours not to make reply, ours not to question why. Thank heaven, we are not obliged to do and die; having the preference to do or die, we naturally prefer to do.

But we cannot help wondering if some ignorant or faithless steward of God's work and God's money hasn't blundered. It seems necessary that we should make known to the good men and women who are so solicitous about our souls, and our minds, that we haven't quite got rid of our bodies yet, and until we do, we must feed and clothe them; and this attitude of keeping us out of work forces us back upon charity.

That distinguished thinker, Mr. Henry C. Carey, in his valuable works on political economy, has shown by the truthful and forceful logic of history, that the elevation of all peoples to a higher moral and intellectual plane, and to a fuller investiture of their civil rights, has always steadily kept pace with the improvement in their physical condition. Therefore we feel that resolutely and in unmistakable language, yet in the dignity of moderation, we should strive to make known to all men the justice of our claims to the same employments as other's under the same conditions. We do not ask that anyone of our people shall be put into a position because he is a colored person, but we do most emphatically ask that he shall not be kept out of a position because he is a colored person. "An open field and no favors" is all that is requested. The time was when to put a colored girl or boy behind a counter would have been to decrease custom; it would have been a tax upon the employer, and a charity that we were too proud to accept; but public sentiment has changed. I am satisfied that the employment of a colored clerk or a colored saleswoman wouldn't even be a "nine days' wonder." It is easy of accomplishment, and yet it is not. To thoughtless and headstrong people who meet duty with impertinent dictation I do not now address myself; but to those who wish the most gracious of all blessings, a fuller enlightment as to their duty,--to those I beg to say, think of what is suggested in this appeal.

AN APPEAL TO OUR BROTHER IN WHITE[31]

BY W. J. GAINES, D. D.

_Bishop of the A.M.E. Church in Georgia_

[Note 31: From "The Negro and the White Man," 1897.]

Providence, in wisdom, has decreed that the lot of the Negro should be cast with the white people of America. Condemn as we may the means through which we were brought here, recount as we may the suffering through which, as a race, we passed in the years of slavery, yet the fact remains that today our condition is far in advance of that of the Negroes who have never left their native Africa. We are planted in the midst of the highest civilization mankind has ever known, and are rapidly advancing in knowledge, property, and moral enlightenment. We might, with all reason, thank God even for slavery, if this were the only means through which we could arrive at our present progress and development.

We should indeed count ourselves blest if our white brethren would always extend to us that kindness, justice, and sympathy which our services to them in the past should inspire, and our dependence upon them as the more enlightened and wealthy race should prompt them to bestow.

Why should there be prejudice and dislike on the part of the white man to his colored brother? Is it because he was once a slave, and a slave must forever wear the marks of degradation? Is there no effacement for the stigma of slavery--no erasement for this blot of shame? Will our white brother not remember that it was his hand that forged the links of that chain and that riveted them around the necks of the people who had roved for thousands of years in the unrestrained liberty of the boundless forests in far-away Africa? As well might the seducer blacken the name and reputation of the fair and spotless maiden he has cruelly and wantonly seduced. Go far enough back and it is more than probable that you will find the taint of slavery in your line and its blot upon your escutcheon. The proud Saxon became the slave to the Norman, and yet to-day millions are proud to be called Anglo-Saxons.

Will our white brother refuse us his cordial fellowship because of our ignorance? Ignorance is indeed a great evil and hindrance. The enlightened and refined cannot find fellowship with the ignorant, the benighted, the untutored. If this be the line of demarkation, we can and will remove it. No people ever made more heroic efforts to rise from ignorance to enlightenment. Forty-three per cent. of the Negro race can read and write, and with time we can bring our race up to a high degree of civilization. We are determined, by the help of Providence, and the strength of our own right arms, to educate our people until the reproach of ignorance can no longer be brought against us. When we do, will our white brothers accord that respect which is the due of intelligence and culture?

Does our white brother look with disdain upon us because we are not cleanly and neat? It is true that the masses of our race have not shown that regard for personal cleanliness and nicety of dress, which a wealthy and educated people have the means and the time for. Our people by the exigencies of their lot, have had to toil and toil in menial places, the places where drudgery was demanded and where contact with dust and filth was necessary to the accomplishment of their work. But even this can be remedied, and cleanliness and neatness can be made a part of the Negro's education until he can present, as thousands of his race are now doing, a creditable appearance. Will improvement along these lines help us to gain the esteem and respectful consideration of our white brothers? If so, the time is not far distant when this barrier will be removed. Education will help solve this difficulty as it does all others, and give to our race that touch of refinement which insures physical as well as mental soundness.--_mens sana in corpore sano._

But is our moral condition the true reason of our ostracism? Are we remanded to the back seats and ever held in social dishonor because we are morally unclean? Would that we could reply by a denial of the allegation and rightly claim that purity which would be at the foundation of all respectable social life. But here we ask the charitable judgment of our white brethren, and point them to the heroic efforts we have made and are making for the moral elevation of our race. Even a superficial glance at the social side of the Negro's life will convince the unprejudiced that progress is being made among the better classes of our people toward virtuous living. Chastity is being urged everywhere in the school house, and the church, and the home, for our women, and honesty and integrity for our men. We can and will lift the shadow of immorality from the great masses of our race, and demonstrate to the whole world what religion and education can do for a people. We are doing it. Among the thoroughly cultured and rightly trained of our women, virtue is as sacred as life, and among our men of similar advantages, honor and integrity are prized as highly as among any people on the globe.