Newspapers / Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.) / Nov. 20, 1930, edition 1 / Page 1
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AND YE SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH. AND THE! TRUTH SHALL; MAKE YOU DAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1930. BY THE WAY The Editor of The Columbia (S. C.) State is using a deal of printer’s ink and expending much energy in ethnological research to prove that the Abyssinians are not Negroes, since, according to native tra dition, Menilehek, or Menelek, the son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, was their first king. These people are too rich • in history and traditions to be Negroes, as the Editor of The State thinks and has a desire to tell the world. He gives scien tific reasons for the color of their skin, but none for their thick lips and blunt noses and wooly hair—those of pure Abyssinian stock. This brilliant Editor, in so many cases of this kind, seems to feel that it is his whole du ty to keep the world informed as to “who’s who” racially, if there is doubt; especially if the arrow points toward Negro or African extraction exerting it self as one of the factors of world powers. The question with the Negro is: If the Editor of The Colum bia State can succeed in prov ing that the Albyssinians are Semitic and by no means of Af rican extraction, what has he gained for the reading and thinking world, and what has the Negro lost in body, mind, heart and soul; or in anything in reach of human opportuni ty? It is strange that some men, who seem to be wise, set up pegs to knock down, while quite a number exchange six for a half dozen; meanwhile they assume * the air and postuye of one all victorious, or^ffle man otf^fM' <v hour. It is said that an Irishman, after purchasing a railroad re turn ticket from the ticket agent —hearing the American people are hard to fool—called his friend aside and whispered: “Pat, I’ve fooled the American man.” Pat asked, “How, Mike?” His reply was: “I’ve bought a return ticket, and I aint coming back.” Perhaps he was not coming back, but what did he gain, since railroad companies do not sell return tickets for less than one-way fare. Then, too, what did the ticket agent or railroad company lose by virtue of his not coming back? There is a certain aristocrat ic clan in Berkeley, Charleston, and Colleton counties that has succeeded to a finish in impress ing a certain class of Negroes that they are not Negroes. In no other section of ti United States do you fi’ white people so interested as to who is Negro and who is not Negro as you find in the coun ties mentioned. But I must go cautiously, for the Editor of The State is from Adams Run, Colleton county, and about 13 miles from Edisto Island, the hot bed of the colonial and ante-bellum aristocrats. But he knows that in and around Adams Run, Rantowles, Rave nells, and through the hill sec tions of Colleton county, there is a class of Negroes called “brass ankles." There is nothing in them of foreign extraction. They sprang from the soil and loins of the counties of their fathers and mothers, Berkeley, Charleston and Colleton, S. C. Many of them do not know of any other. I should say in this connec tion that Negro men are not responsible for the begetting and existence of “brass ankles.” Perhaps the world is aware of this fact. “Brass ankles” were taught that they were not Negroes; and it was the custom when the hour of preaching arrived on the Sabbath for the slaves, “trass ankles” were given a seat on the ground floor while the real slave Negroes with no Anglo-Saxon extraction occu pied the gallery. Of course, this made the “brass ankles” feei that they were among the elect and cream of the South; and this was perfectly natural. It is interesting to know why they are called “brass inkles.” Although the white brother’s blood be in “brass ankles’ ” veins; and although “bifass an kle” was accorded special priv ileges in the days of American slavery, his case today is not envied. He attempted to enter his white relatives’ schools. They shut the door in his face. He moves into white rural communities among the aristo crats. They pass him by on the other side. Poor brass ankle’s social life is pathetic. He is in a class by ^himself. The .Ne groes pass them by and watch them from under the rims of their hats with a doubting and repulsive eye. “Byass ankles” were slaves in the days of slavery with special privileges; but around their ankle was welded a brass band with his owner’s initials en graved in order to identify their brass ankle slaves if this class of slaves attempted to es cape to the underground rail road for freedom, as many of them from Georgia and Vir ginia did. This may be a distorted or modified tradition, but Mr. Samuel Gilliard Stoney has written a book entitled, “Po Buckra;” and in this book he gives the “brass ankles” con sideration. But I am sure that the origin of the name.brass ankle is not far off the mark; for Iihave read of bras»-a»Jdes , and talked with brass ankles of brass ankle lore. And, by the way, Mr. Stoney is of Charles ton. But, after all, this matter of race designation is the out growth of social and political power; or the result of duty performed; or the nature of the person or thing named. You will find this the case in He brew names; and it is the same with races. Study the origin of names of countries and races and you might be surprised as to how some races got their names and how some great countries came to be designated as to their names. It is inter esting to know how the poor white man in the South came to be called “cracker” or “po’ trash.” You know why he is called “buckra” or “reb.” Of course the Negro knows the or igin of all his names, from “darky” down. Suppose all black folks are not Negroes and all white folks are not Caucasians, as the Ed itor of The Columbia State seems to want us to know, then who is naturally responsible for the former and who is socially responsible for the latter with all of the depravity entailed ? This matter of “who’s who” will not stand very much pres sure. I is like ancestry: it does ! not pay to go very far into it lest you find some of your peo ple on the gallows or in the hen house. UNCLE BILLIE. The modem mind is lacking in its labeled exhibits of sin. Hie consciences of our grandfathers were stirred to re pentance by the visible remind ers of sin which .surrounded them on every hand. Insanity, epilepsy, blindness and various forms of disease; earthquake;;., floods, tornadoes and other vio lent physical upheavals—these were interpreted as the divine puipshment of perversity. Now we look for the causes of dis ease in germs not in sins.— Dr. R. W. Sockman. MEETING OF THE TfOUHf* PEOPLE’S LEAGUE The Young People’s of the Yadkin Presbj with St. John’s Presl church, of Jonerfboro, Friday, November 7th, ifor regular Fait meeting. The League was called der by the President, and first hour was spent in ojut songs, games and yells1; which all representatives members present were enrol After the enrollment the dies of St. John’s church vited all present to 4 heavily laden with jnariy g< things to eat. Before jleai the table, Miss Robinson, Blandonia church, was I asked to express thanks to the ladies!,' which she did in a few ww chosen words. ,, From supper the group/' called to order for busiiu The reports from the various Leagues were indeed good .apld were accompanied by the fult assessment from each League represented. The President, Miss E. Lar rett, of John Hall church, asked Rev. F. C. Shirley to pre side during election of officers, which resulted as follows: . Miss Margaret Robinson, President. : | Miss Pearl Tyson, Vice-] ident. Mrs. Beatrice McMillan, Mrs. ’B&ytei&uef Rev. P. and Rev. J. E. McMillan. Miss Bernice Washington, Reporter. Next was discussion of the topic, “Christian Conduct As It Relates to Home Life.” Those taking part in the discussion showed that they had given time and thought to the topic. Then came the closing worship service, theme, “Sharing Jesus With Others.” With appropriate songs, Scripture read'ng and prayers we ware made to feel that it was a real service of divine worship. MISS MARGARET ROBIN SON, President. MISS VIVIAN MOONE, Secre tary. reports were made and thp election of officers took place. Miss Vivian Moone, Secreta ry. ry. I ' , - Miss Rosa L. Blue, Assistant Secretary. ; Miss E. L. Barrett, Treasur er. The Advisory Committee SWIFT MEMORIAL COLLEGE NEWS ITEMS Dr. W. C Hargrave, of the English Department at Swift Memorial College, has been gjreatly (honored by the East Tennessee Teachers’ Associa tion for Colored Schools by be ing elected as its President for the ensuing year. The good doc tor richly deserves this singu lar honor. His untiring devotion to duty, his progressive outlook, his knowledge of educational problems, and especially his ac quaintance with the problems confronting the schools in East Tennessee are all qualities which make him eminently suited to direct the activities of the Assocation for the next year. We wish him a successful year as President of the East Tennessee Teachers’ Associa tion. Thanksgiving Day will be “Home-Coming” day at Swift. The Swift foot ball team will play its annual game with Greenville College of Green ville, Tennessee, on that day, and among other interesting items on the day’s program is a Popularity Contest in which the Swift co-ed who receives [the largest number of votes will be . crowned as “Miss Swift” between the halves of (Continued on page 3) THE LIQUOR INTERESTS . STILL ACTIVE By Dr. E. H. Cherrington Behind the “window dress ing” of the ostensible leaders of the fight against prohibition, there stand today, as there have stood in all the campaigns for a sober land, the sinister figures of those interested in the finan cial possibilities of the restored legalized sale of beverage intox icants. They have at stake a prize worth from five billion dollars a year to seven billion dollars. It has been estimated that with our present popula tion and the general wealth of the nation today, the liquor trade would be worth at least that much. It is only natural, therefore, that large sums should be invested in propagan da against prohibition by those who would most largely benefit financially should this national policy be abandoned or even seriously embarrassed. It is equally natural that the liquor interests should not desire tr publicly appear in this fight. It is manifestly to their advantage if it can be made to appear that the question is not the enrich ment of the brewers and dis tillers at the expense of the people in general but, instead, is one of personal liberty, state’s rights or other more or less general ideals unrelated to the liquor question. It is also vital to the success of their purposes if the apparent leader ship of the fight should be as sumed by persons or organi zations whose relation to the historic or potential liquor trade is unknown. The Lobby Investigation of a subcommittee of the United States Senate Committee oJM&e Judiciary revealed more fully the interests and the invest ments of the liquor group in this fight against the prohibi tion amendment. The lists of contributors to the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment, seized from the files of that organization, jby the Committee, showed the ex tent to which brewing compa nies and families long identified with the liquor traffic financed the wet fight. The later lists, however, did not show such con. tributions, an earlier exposure of the brewers and liquor men’s gifts having been made, on the basis of the sworn returns made to the Clerk of the House of Representatives under the Corrupt Practices Act. The wet organization, accord ing to the testimony of its founder, W. H. Stayton, con tinued accepting from brew ers until the 1st of January, 1930. Another angle to the disap pearance of the brewers’ gifts appeared when Senator Walsh, of Montana, read into the Rec ord (pages 4124-4125 of Hear ings) from the minutes of the wet association the statement in a report of Mr. Curran that contributions from “brewers or persons in or formerly in the trade” had “fallen off so that they now represented about 1.5 per cent.” Concerning this Sen ator Walsh asked: “Did some of the brewers withdraw?” to which Mr. Curran replied: “Certainly, some who had giv en in 1928 did not give in 1929, If this is withdrawing, it is so.” That contributions of liquor interests were sometimes so entered into the accounts of the wet organization that the names or the business of the givers was not revealed, was shown by a letter written by the secreta ry of the association to Hiram H. Walker, of Walkerville, On tario, manufacturer of a fa mous whiskey, acknowledging his offer of financial aid and suggesting (page 4148 of Hear • ing): --= By Kelly Miller In Hie Newport News Star The, election is over. My pre diction made a week in advance has been verified all but to the letter. The wets are jubilant. The Democrats are casting their anchor to windward for 1932. Mr. Hoover has received the most humiliating drubbing of any candidate of modern times. A margin of seven mil lion majority has dwindled in to a minority under his manip ulation as head of the Republican Party. Taft suf fered like reversal, but the obvious cause was a wide open split in the ranks. Harding was riding to a similar fall but a merciful Providence shifted the foreseen fate to the shoulders of Calvin Coolidge who ducked the blow even as lie 'dodged all of the great issues arising under his administration. Mr. Hoover is an innocent victim of an undeserved fate. The American voter, under the weight of depression and un employment, visited the ills of the cosmos upon the adminis tration in power. The master politicians on both sides of the political fence are now busy re forming the alignment for the next presidential campaign. The Republicans have learned a great lesson. Whenever the Grand Old Party of moral tra ditions turns its hack upon a great moral issue, it thereby invites defeat. Any tyro in pol itics knows that if the admin istration had assumed an em phatic, position o*ytheJEight eenth Amendment and had di rected the National Committee to hit hard on the prohibition cy'in’e', the r°sult wou’d have been much more consoling. But because the Republicans were neither cold nor hot, or rather both hot and cold, on this ques tion, the American voter spewed them out of their mouths. Massachusetts and Ohio might have been saved. New York and Illinois would have been less hell-bent towards wetness. Morrow would have won in New Jersey on his own popularity and on the fame of his winged son-in-law. Hastings stood up like a man and won in Delaware. The election has accomplished one clear result—it has broken the traditional fealty of the Negro to the Republican party. Never before was the Negro vote so oibviously divided. The N. A. A. C. P< by a vigorous campaign in at least “fou in states battled against the pro Parker Senators. Incidentally it supported the wets against the drys. Their sole aim was to avenge the pro-Parker Sena tors. Their vindictive policy is one of disputed wisdom. How ever, they followed their own philosophy to its logical conclu sion. In Harlem Negro voters chose two democratic judges against their Republican antag onists. This is the clearest proof of the record of the divis ion of the Negro vote. The Af ro-American tells us that seven thousand Negroes in Baltimore voted the Democratic ticket. The Lord only knows how the Negroes in Chicago voted. If they followed their proclivities and inclination, I fear the bulk of them voted the advice of B'g Bill Thompson for Lewis and wetness. DePriest, the wet, pulled through, while Judge George, the dry, went under. In Pennsylvania the race sustained the acid test. The Republican bosses bade them vote for the Democratic candidate for Gov ernor against that moral g'ant, — Gifford Pinchot. I must leave it to the Editor of the Phila delphia Tribune to determine how many voted one way, and how many the other. And so it goes all along the line. Never again can the Re publican bosses command the Negro vote on the plea of by gone benefits. The Negro to^ay faces the future with his back to the past. This does not mean that all Negroes have forsaken or will forsaken the Grand Old Party. The old line politicians remained within the fold from a prudent sense of regularity. Mrs. Addle Hunton and Roscoe Simmons 3till waved the old flag of Re publican glory around which we all used to rally in days gone by. Some, like myself, deemed prohibition the dominant issue, and supported dry candidates, md wished from patriotic rea sons to uphold the hands of Mr. Hoover, not as a Republi can, but as head of the nation, in the hour of storm and stress. On the whole, I have no doubt that for one reason or another, more thah half of the colored voters supported the Grand Old Party. But this support rested ! largely upon principle and pol icy, rather than upon traditionrl fealty and undying devotion. In the future the Negro w 11 align himself with parties and ;ssues according as they appeal to his patriotism and enlight ened self-interest. The Republi can party will hardly fail to get its just quota of Negro sup port, according to the just mer its of is appeal. On the whole, I anticipate that the majority of the race will, wtih eyes wide open to the best interest of the race and country, follow in the train of that party which, in the main, -hasr"tepfe^ented the best patriotism, traditions and statesmanship for the past sev enty years. But this will not be from blind superstition, like the man Friday who bowed down and worshipped the "un of his master, Robinson Cru soe. The two opposing parties will attract the Negro voter ac cording to the relative persua siveness of their appeal. WOMEN AND THEIR HUSBANDS (From The Boston Transcript) A discussion is going on among the philosophers of New York over the question why women when they gather to-\ ?ether in sewing circles or at bridge teas devote so much of. their conversation to compar-' ing the imperfections of their? husbands, whereas men, when they meet at golf or around the poker table, always give the1 impression that they are happi ly mated. Wherever there is a husband who doesn’t pick up after himself or who uses swear words in front of the children, the whole street presently knows of it. But a man may be married to a confirmed gold digger or a Xantippe and not a word passes his lips that be trays his tragedy. Are we to look for the cause in a finer chivalry in the man? Does he persist in gearing his w fe’s favor in public after it has become faded and tarnish rd all because he cannot forget the first long-lost rapture? Or is it merely his selfish, over-ween ing pride in appearances? And how about the candid wife ? The chances are that she pipes only because she must. It is in the nature of woman to talk or burst, and the mysterious, can tankerous ways of even the best of husbands provide her with an inexhaustible subject of conversation and reprobation. When it comes to a case of the worst of husbands, too iniqui tous for tea-table badinage, even then she must open her heart (Continued on page 3)
Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.)
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Nov. 20, 1930, edition 1
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