Newspapers / Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.) / Jan. 2, 1936, edition 1 / Page 1
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TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE.-John tffisSfc By Rev. Zander *A. Dockery, D. D. Every age, with its accom panying evil tendencies, has stamped its people, more or less 'indelibly, for weal or woe. This fact is seen through’ all history as nations and individuals have risen, acted their parts and" left their imprints in the lives 01 «.i*e succeeding generations. a he Christian age has, so far. left its impriht in two conspic uous ways. One is, the leading nations of the worui are Chris tians, though younger, while the oldest nations are not Chris tians and the most backward. The other is, the Christian na tions have given their biessea streams of advancement to the non-Christian nations in tht xorms of railroads, schools, hos pitals, telephones and mission aries of various types to heip them in homes and person, etc The above ie mentioned pri manly as a background for tht following. Out of these timjes are rapidly growing three dis tinct sinister stamps upon oj and young people. These three stamps are lawlessness, gam bling and lethargy for the mor al and spiritual values of life. Any social worker whose inter est is among the people can set these facts so as to become al most astounded at them. Ruv to find fault with the people is no help to them, nor. is an ait-, tempt to ostracise ’them from the church or from,, personal contact any remedy for the evils. ! ' So we had better see the facts, determine the causes and seek some remedy for them. Some of the causes lie 4n the lastTfew years "when work cou|d” not be found for the great mass es of the people, when very lit tle money could be secured wi^h which to buy life’s needs, and when the seasons, with their in creasing demands, have come and gone, such conditions have driven the people to do all they could to get the dollar regard less of the principles involved. One more very aggravating cause is the fact that when many of the people coufd get some bread to eat and some wood to warm by, there was al lowed them for house rent, not one cent. Two things held out for them fair hopes for the dollar. They are bootlegging and gambling. Any grade of liquor seems to be a ready seller.'So the money thirsty people rushed into it to buy, sell and to drink. The crim inal consequences were very small if they could get a dollar. But both buyer, seller and drink er were of the same class—law breakers. Now, we are very sor ry to say that only a few peo ple seem to have any respect for law. All they seem to care for is to get by. # The next thing is the num ber writing. This is a very con venient and subtle form of gam bling. Like the fruit before the eyes of Eve, which kindled he' desire to have her eyes opened and to know good and evil, this number writing may seem harm less and may promise great re wards for the act. For one can play from one cent upwards to many dollars, when the return is from $2 up to hundreds of dollars, if one “hits.” Then wher one “hits” for from $2 to $50 or more, he becomes the here and his success incites others to try again. But mark this point: that, call it by whatever name desirable, it is gariibling. There was no pain while Eve was eat ing that fruit in the garden. But oh! the pain since then and now. In like mafffier this gam bling is a painless path to death—moral and spiritual death. The Bible says: “Be not deceived, God is not mocked;, for whatsoever a man sowetb that shall he also reap.” (Gal. 6:7. Then the reward gotten out of it is death: "The Wages of sin is death?' (Romans 6:23.) One more fact we need to sCe uere. It is this': of these law less* people, many' <Sf them ate lawless tor business and by hab it, but many* of mean nave gone into it unwillingly anu with no intention of oecbnhng nabicuai bobtieggers and gam biers. But having gon6 mto'it, anu needs pressing them con tinually, and the nnanciar gains continue their bainihg promis es, they were" cowered ‘"under the pressure, and tne once pre cious values ^of the moral ana spiritual me have faded irojm oefore their eyes, while1 the val ue of the dollar has'loomed bp as “The almighty donar.' At this stage in a nfe, any rfignteous principle may be safer rinced, if Such sacrmce promis es th§ dollar or some sdbstan uai relief. Here," too, many with good intentions, hut for me lack of clothes to wear and money to give, have stopped attending church services. Hut weeks aha months and yeartf have passed, and that suotie death-iethargy nas them fast. Jf or the future of the church life and homes, this is a very gloomy picture. Because the chili of seared conscience which nas gripped the parents is fast baking hold of. youth, and these same parents are. slack about sending the children to the church. However, the aoove condition is by no means, hopeless. For with the tr#e worker, it is a very rich field in which to la oor. Jesu^Christ jays: “The che laborers are few; pray yt therefore the Lord of the har vest that he will send forth la borers into his harvest.” Then he says: “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” With the hope of increasing the faith of the older people and saving the children from these evil tendencies, we have planned a revival for three months — January to April. This revival will include every Sunday and every Wednesday night for the time. From two angles we shall teach practical faith and un compromising trust in God for all of life’s needs. Each Sunday at 11 A. M„ we shall use some practical Biblical lesson, in text or character. At night, we shall use one or part of one of the non-Christian religions, in lec ture form. On the first Sunday night (Jan. 5th), Fetishism is to be our subject. . After that the order is, The Religion of Ancient Egypt, Zoroastrian ism, Brahmanism, Buddhism, The Religion of Greece, The Re ligion of the Norsemen, Confu cianism, Islam or Mohammedan ism. i The hope for using these re ligions is to show the people that religion, at any time, has helped the people by offer ing to them a personal and an enabling Saviour, as the Chris tian religion has done and is doing. Our conclusion is that no life without Jesus Christ can/ give salvation to the devotees/ thereof, and those who are practicing these evils need not to expect any help therefrom; but they can get help through Jesus Christ. Statesville, N. C. Denominations were not planned or organized; they grew. Local congregations of like-minded people, pursuing some compelling ideal or follow ing some dynamic leader, asso ciated themselves- with each other and became a denomina tion. In the course of the growth of the denomination various functions of the corporate life were Entrusted to committees. —I'rarik Langford. ana an assur< self.. He is wifi uoes not know where he is go; there. At this come to that On January 1,1868, -Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipa tion Proclamation whhdi inau gurated the new-life gro race. ? These suggestions are isydht-* ed on the 3lst day of 1935, seventy-three uay, sihce the issuance of life-giving document. The wm? er a span of hie, now nrtiieaec-' onu haif of his seventy-tmrd year, is ah exact yardstick by wnich to measure tne progress of the race since freeaom. The occasion, therefore,"; seems htV ting for comprehensive reiuac-1 Lion and suggestions; rhe commendable )pd mug ooasted progress of tne rate during the past seventy-three years nas now come to a nait or standstill. The race, as •t wnoie, during tne last hve years oi depression is marking ■ uii.v gather than making ^progress, indeed, the whole worm is up? set; times are out of joint. The jSegro is peeping about under che legs of the huge coildssus oi civilization if haply he might issured place for him?; ithout ideology and; Know for a certainty1 is going or how to get critical juncture itseii as aid tne prodigal son m the par able. In the language of the game of marbles, the Negro should come to “taw” at the be?: ginning of the year, 1935. ' : l. Through the eyes of his vrained young men in political and social science he shoujg ob serve and carefully study what is taking place at the greaj; cap* itals of the world—at Moscow, at Berlin, at Rome, at Wishing the darkest of the darker races of men, by which thdir path may be wisely guided amidst this maize of present day civii zation. ^ 2. He should Jyjm to Under stand the nature and operation of race prejudice, which is the stern, stubborn fact constituting the controlling factor in the equation of racial life. He should seek to determine, if possible, now far he may be enabled to overcome, modify or mollify it and to what extent he will be. compelled to submit to its harsh and cruel exactions. He must develop a protective philosophy. Where he can not overcome, he must undergo; for that which can not be cured must be en dured. It is as foolhardy to shake the impotent finger of de fiance in the face of the inex orable without power to put that defiance into effect as it would be suicidal and cowardly to yield to cruel and inhuman exactions without exhausting every possible recourse. 3. The race has but one weap-1 on with which to combat race prejudice effectively, and that is to oppose hate with love. The Negro is endowed beyond other breeds of men with lovingkind ness, long suffering, forgiveness of spirit and non-resistance of evil. The Nordic looks upon this endowment as an amazing grace, but for the Negro it is assuredly a saving one. Al** though the Negro may not be able to overcome the evil of race prejudice, he should1 not be over come by it; but should father seek to overcome evil with good. Even the Nordic can not hate a race which loves him. The maxim of Edward Markham will ultimately conquer race prejudice, if indeed it is con querable: “He drew a circle that shut me out— Heretic, rebel, a thing, to flout. But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle and took him in.” 4. The men and women who stand in high places of spirit ual, moral, intellectual and so leadership should be guided the motive of service and profit, The money motive i has well nigh played hav i the. jrorld is leading the swiftly id destruction. i minister, the physician, the ter, the school teacher pr man who profiteers le expense of the poor firings profession into disrepute. Negro pulpit, in too many ices, is on the verge of in il dry rot and moral and itual bankruptcy because ministers instead of being Ivafors of souls shove an itch palm into the pockets of 's poor. It were better for type of minister that millstone were tied about his and that he were cast into depths of the sea. The doc who is more concerned with pay than with the health of patient; the law ye? wno is >re interested in his fee than justice; the school teacher* places the payroll above the ariation of knowledge, are ticing their professions un-, hily and are stumbling oks in the upward path of race. There should be a lessen of the margin between the ce and the lowly. The culti ed, the upright and the no should and will receive the st appreciation and esteem lich is their, due, but they i not vaunt.their superi to the discomfiture of less fortunate than them i. Noblesse oblige is the » of all true gentility, re should exist that bond of sympathy and compla icy of understanding between a» priesthood toward the hum blest members within that household of faith. The man farthest down should be the chief concern of the man high est up; for unless the Negro elite shall lift as they climb they shall find themselves ele vated upon impotent eminence •without upper or nether sup port. • • ) 'ill 5. The resultant racial life is the joint product of inter-racial and intra-racial factors. The Negro, in his state of helpless ness, is peculiarly dependent upon his white environment for political, economic and industri al life. His social life falls main ly within the sphere of his own race. Appreciation of this dis tinction will, go far to simplify the problem of race co-opera tion and race development. 7. A second Negro Sanhedrin, or all-race conference, has been called to meet in Chicago on the 24th of February, 1936. Thi3 movement offers great oppor tunity for genuine race states manship. The original Negro Sanhedrin, ca'led by the writer 15 years ago, failed in its ob jective because the Negro mind at that time was not ready for such a forthright venture. The Negro had not received enough earrings and fingerrings from the Egyptians to set up houset keeping for himself. All such proposals looking towards race self-leadership have failed for the same rfeaSon. During the past fifteen years the Negro has learned much he did not then know. He has suffered many things which he could not fore see; he knows more about the laws of race prejudice than he •then understood. He then re lied upon religion, philanthro py, education and industry and economics to bring about a sat isfactory solution. Philanthropy has shifted from a humanitarian basis to one of cold, calculated, impersonal charity. The Negro has been pushed farther away from control of his own higher educational activities. In face of the present stiuation which confronts the Negro his chief reliance must be upon himself direction in dons of life udice has the oiit for guidance aii toe intimate within the to which race -- -T left him. Philanthropy will still hand out crumbs, or it may be a crust, with tee left hand .across the coior Uhe. I pray and hope, 1 would like to say expect, that in this second Sanhedrin, a statesmanlike leadership Win emerge with requisite wisdom to formhlate an effective race program ana with the requisite power of persuasion to impress it upon the race as an agenda of action. , 8. We are approaching r'residential election whose oi come may mean- more tr.an a mere shift from party control. It wi»t m ah prop ability determine the aes tiny of the nation and of the Negro for generations to conle. Ahe Negro is normally aiignfea with the “forgotten nmn,' the man lartheat down., The ‘‘New ileal"' engages to restore the neglected and overlooked ele ment of socieuy, without regard o race or color, to its rightful nace in the economic order, vithout committing itself jto .11 the angles and t#igles he “New Deal?^rand its co (heated techmque, eniignte eif-mterest of $he Negro alig um with its essential aims (drpbse. Capital should control udUstry under jgOvernmeht, »ut snodid not-control the gov xnment. Abraham Lincoip s uctum of “A government of tjit <eople, for the people ana ; lie people ’ nnds new applicia lon in the j present situation. Vn enlightened spirit of seif mderstanding will align the :ommon man with the. hbefai ■axher ’than the reactionary endency of oujp day afid gener ation. Hugged individualism bent on piling up swollen Kf unes) as the conwo*hng faetprj * «»^»yeo«osBt,j»J)euW 4” ireaited not only iit Am» in all the forward lookiiig itions of the earth. The ojd ia the new order are now pi iath grips. The right decision jtween the two is the first ;ep in the direction of wisdom >r the Negro in the year 01 AN EMANCIPATION ADDRESS (From The Chattanooga Times) | “Freedom is not given, it must be achieved; when we can make a contribution to mod ern civilization "worthy of free men, we shall be emancipated,” Dr. J. B. Barber, pastor of the Leonard Street Presbyterian church, declared at an Emanci pation day program held by the Inter - denominational Alliance of Colored Congregations at Warren Chapel African Meth odist Episcopal church yester day afternoon. , Following a program of an cient hymns, the Negro min ister rose to dominate the meet ing with a quiet and penetrat ing analysis of his race’s prob lem of readjustment after the War Between the States. “Negroes are slaves still to unequal wages and courts,” he said. “But ever since the delusive promises of ‘forty acres and a mule* Negroes have expected things to be given them. When we ask for better jobs, decent streets and other good things, we must remember that these things take striving for, work ing for and fighting for. “We Must Get Together** “Perhaps we can’t get them by ourselves,” he said; “we must get together with those who will work with us.” He said that collective bargaining is the order of the day. Negroes com mit folly to sit back without jobs until strikes of organized labor occur, and then accept these jobs and thereby break strikes, he indicated. The powering Negtfo ’leader -5*TT*1 began his Emancipation day auureas by reminoing ftis aucta ence of twenty-nine colored people, many of whom walked long distances on icy streets to attend the mid-week service, that many white South erners worked as hard ter Ne gro- (freedom as fdki te^ hiew England abolitionists. “But to realize what it ail means, you have to go back to che days when Negroes could not even meet together to praise iiod. hrom^l7»0 to 1830, it is said that more than 1,000,000 slaves were brought from the west coast of Africa and to the West Indies and America. Anu for every one slave brought to America, they say four or five perished. When they died they were thrown overboard like dunib beasts. You've heard of those conditions, haven't you? “Well, let’s leave that sub ject, ter it isn’t pleasant. But Negroes have nothing to be ashamed of. (When emancipa tion was proclaimed, from 95 to KM) per cent of them were il literate and all of them were without property. v “But in 1930, it was said that illiteracy was down to 20 per cent. That is a grand achieve ment. “I try to teach my boys and girls that they have nothing to be ashamed of in their race’s history. There is nq$ a race on earth which has not come up from bondage. Those Negroes; who do not like to celebrate Emancipation day forget' that >ne of Er.gland’ii proudest days s Magna Charts day, and Bas ;ille day is a festival in France, rhat peculiar glorious people cm Jews, was ied ou.; of Egypt, A e land of bodag i, long ago.” Ever since emancipation, Dr. Barber remarked, some white and some colored people have been at a loss, because “they “Haven’t you heard them say the old-time Negro knew his place? Well, yes, he did — but 3ince emancipation he feels he has another place, and can you blame him for that?” There are lessons to be learned from the emancipation procla mation in 1936, he said. “Negroes Still in Bondage.” “Negroes are still in bond age. We are slaves to wages everywhere smaller than white men receive for similar work, and in Mississippi, for exam-: pie, the money spent on educa tion of the white child is 5 to 1 greater than on the colored child. Negro farmers are in the same plight they were in dur ing slavery days. In illustrating the Negro’s employment disadvantages, Dr. Barber told of finding white men doing the garbage collecting on Ninth Street here during the depression. Previously it always had been a Negro’s job, he de clared. “Don’t we have something the other race needs, and don’t they have something we need?” the Pennsylvania and Seattle trained minister, who was born South Of the Mason-Dixon line and returned here for his min istry, asked. “W# need to instill into our children more pride--now you' think I mean race pride, but I do not. Although I think our boys and girls should strive to ward God and love and beauty as much as any children-I mean I want our boys and girls ito do something fine for Chattanoo ga, for America and for God that will stand by itself. “When we can make a con tribution worthy of free men, we are then emancipated.” The colored ministers of the Inter - denominational Alliance who attended the memorial ser vice were introduced. They w$pe W. H. Reynolds, New Zion African Mehodist Epis copal church; N. B. Moton, A. M. E. presiding elder, of North Chattanooga; M. C. Grif fin, Warren Chapel A, M. E.; (Continued on page 4)
Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.)
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Jan. 2, 1936, edition 1
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