Newspapers / Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.) / Jan. 23, 1936, edition 1 / Page 1
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VOL. LVII. CHARLOTTE. N. CV THURSO, ' i ■ JANUARY 23, 1936. liMlf .1 lilf V fl RUDYARD KIPLING AND HIS NEGRO READERS By Dr. Kelly Miller ; Rudyard Kipling, the unlau reled Poet Laureate of England, ig dead. Before these lines see the light of print his ashefs will have found se pulture in Westminster Ab bey;*-.:-Kipling gave literary emphasis and start lo the quiek eriifig of racial arrogance which hag culminated today in Hit ler's attitude toward the Jews. He was the literary forerunner and*' counterpart of Lothrop Stoddard and Madison Grant, who' gave pseudo-scientific and sociological sanction to the Nordic Myth. Kipling’s “Take Up the - White Man’s Burden” and • Stoddard’s “Rising Tide Of Color” are companion pieces of mischief in stirring up strife among Hie races and nations of nmiddndr - JLfirst became acquainted with Rudyard Kipling through an interview given out by him in San Ftanclsco in the early nineties. It seemed as if he had some misunderstanding with a colored waiter. In describing -the affair he stated, as I now recall h|s .words, “Let me stop here and curse the. whole . Negro race.’’ Since then , the poet of the barracks and barroom has risen to be a star of the first magnitude in the literary firm ament. I have read much of his waitings which I have greatly admired and frequently quoted, but always with his racial bi as as a reserve in the back pari of my mind. Kipling possessed a local, na tional, patriotic and racial, but not world mind. He was the poet^.pf circumstances, sur roundings jhhL conditions, but of the human spirit* He cou hardly separate the circum stantjal from the essential, the temporal from the eternal. He ; the poet of the concrete ahd not of the abstract; he dealt with man as a biological being but not with mankind as a spiritual entity- If perchance he reached imperial heights, where race and color disap peared, the flight was incident $:ifi the emphasis of his nar row national or racial purpose. Such flights were never sus tained; but, he suddenly sank fll^O himself on the lower plane of flesh and blood "' Robert Burns, on the (other h&hd, was much more narrow ly limited and circumscribed in Kls environment than Rudyard Rising. The genius of the poet of' ""Scotland, however, ; rose swiftly, above his limited, envi ronment and swept the whole Horizon, around him. With him, Scotia was but a local setting of universal truth which emerged from the background of provincial environment. You might search the entire of Kip ling's writings in vain for a line that is comparable in univer sality of thought and ideal to Burns': “For a’ that and a’ that; it is • coming for a’ that That man to man the world o'er shall brothers be for a’ that.’ - • With : Kipling,- morality and ethics are limited by latitude said, race. He does not appreci ate the existence of “A law of God for man north of 53” nor the validity of the Tern Com mandments “East of the Suez.” • /’ His horizon was not only lim /ited by latitude and race but by sex as-well. Of all the great po ets he stands practically alone in ignoring sex appeal as a source of poetic inspiration. His'highest conception of wo man is: “A rag and a bone and a hunk of hair.” Falling back on vthe bald, biological analogy he /Assures us. that the “The female of the spepies is more deadly than-the male.” The nearest he comes to recognizing the univer sal claim, of womanhood is when he tells us that “Judie O’Grady '’and the Colonel's lady are sis ters under the skin.’’ Kipling never appreciated spiritual values. He never so much as lifted his eyes to heav en. He recognized neither the fatherhood of God nor the brotherhood of man. In his Re cessional, bombastical appeal is mode to the “Lord God of Na tions,” but only in the sense *hat Cicero was in the habit of rhetorically invoking “The im mortal gods” to complete his rounded periods. But even at hat, Kipling’s appeal to piety was only to protect his own na tion in its far flung battle line and its ill-gotten “dominion over palm and pine.” Ke had contempt for all na tionalities except his own. H s reference to the German as a “Vandal” and a “Hun” and tc the Russian as a “Bear that lotoks like a man” aptly illus trates the narrowness and in tensity of his patriotic spirit. Kipling looked upon the non white varieties of the human race as the ‘lesser breeds with out the law,” “half devil and half child,” whose chief mission seems to be to aggravate the white man’s burden. Whatever credit he accorded the “lesser breeds” was secondary and sub ordinate to the glory of the white lord and master. “The things that you learn from the ye|low and the brown will help you a' heap with the white.” Kipiing genuinely believed that “East is East and West is West and never the twain shal meet.” If, however, he was wiping, generously or grudging ly,| to concede virtue and valor to' the*non-white contestant, it wiejs only to glorify the greater yak* of Ihe ani individual exception in favor ofi the non-white and concede th^t the distinction between East and West, for the moment, vanishes when “Two strong stand face to face though they come from the ends of the earth.” T0 the Negro student in liter ature, Kipling presents a temptation and jwamjnjg. His apt, pointed, pictorial power of expression must be admired even by the “lesser breeds” against whom he directs his shaft, though they smart while they smile. The Negro student, in perus ing Kipling's works, must be ever on his guard to< appreciate and praise that which is uni* versally good and separate it from that which is racially bad. NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE ANNOUNCES FELLOWSHIP I The National Urban League* announces its annual competi tive examination for Fellow ships in social work for colored students. Applicants must be graduates of or candidates for graduation from accredited col leges. Successful candidates will receive tuition and monthly stipends valued together at ap proximately $1,000 for the school year. Some of the schools to which League Fellows have been as signed are the New York School of Social Work, the Graduate School for Social Administration of the University of Chicago, Bryn Mawr College and the University of Pittsburgh. Applications must be filed before March 1, 1936, on forms furnished by the National Ur ban League which may be se cured by writing to T. Arnold Hill, Acting Executive Secreta ry- 1133 Broadway Street, room 826, New York City, N. Y. The examination will he held later in March. Faithful service in all spheres of life is the measure.of true success. Not how much has been obtained, but the degree of fidelity, in his standard of achievemenlf—William Wilson McKinney. ' REV. T. 8. HARGRAVE CON DUCTS THE WEEK OF PRAYER AT ALICE LEE ELLIOTT ACADEMY By E. M. Russell The Rev. T. B. Hargrave closed Sunday night, January the twelfth, another successful Week of Prayer at Alice Lee Elliott Academy at Valliant, Oklahoma. His texts for the en tire week, with the exception of one, were taken from the New Testament. Some of his subjects were: “God of the Left Hand,” “What Is Costs to Be a Chris tian,” “Ig Religion a Failure?”, “The New Birth,” and “Weight ier Matters.” Friday morning he preached a most interesting sermon to the little people. Taking as his sub ject, “The Little Foxes Which Spoil the Vines,” Rev. Hargrave made a very lasting impression on the entire student body. He spoke of the little foxes as not such things as lying, petty thievery, etc., but the, to us, little, insignificant things, as “I forgot,” “I can’t,” and “T. don’t care.” In this same sermon Rev. Hargrave pictured thej Junior church and gave the-fol lowing demonstration: All of the little confessed Christians formed a circle and joined hands, leaving a break for the entrance. These little folks sang J “Yes, Jesus Loves Me.” Through these young Christians those who had not confessed Christ were urged to do so. Many came c0 Christ on that day. They en tered the door indicated and re ceived the blessing of Christ through Rev. Hargrave. Such were all of the ser mons delivered by Rev. Har grave throughout the week. The total number of those con fessing Christ was fifteen. We feel that the entire atu* having TJeen here and conduct ing our Week of Prayer. We have a deeper insight into Christianity, and, to sum up the resolutions of the student body, we can resolve to live a full and creative life through our grow ng knowledge of God. THREE THOUSAND STU< DENTS IN RELIGIOUS CONFERENCE Indianapolis, Jan.—(By Ar thur W. Womack for A. N. P.) —Approximately 3,000 stu dents representing 43 States and from all provinces of Can ada spent the past week in In* iianapolis at the I2th quadren nial convention of the Student Volunteer Movement in Cadle Tabernacle. More than 500 col leges and universities were re presented. More than 40 men and wom en from the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Korea, China, Mexico and other coun tries spoke at general sessions and directed discussions in sem inar groups. Approximately 75 of the .'students were fcofcred, who, during the meeting, dis« cussed freely and intelligently on all subjects. Mahatma Gandhi’s Friends Look On Believed to be the only nor Christian among the 3,000 per sons, a former associate of Ma hatma Gandhi, P. Kedanda Rao, Secretary of the Servants of In dia, asserted that the primary topic before the Hindus today, is how to obtain home rule in dependent of British domina tion. While he believes in rjght and the more abundant life he does not profess Christianity. Co-operation Urged Dr. Kagawa, of Japan, said, touching upon the mechanics of co-operative trade, that na tionalization of industries with out co-operative basis will not succeed, and pointed out-that it had failed in Japan. Archbish op of York said that while we have in our hearts the will to better ourselves, we must also co-operate in raising the stand ard* Jttnong Negroes in the in dustrial center of Gary, and not <9# Gary, but throughout the eduntry. r Mr. Reddix declared, “In co operation the Negro has found a ntfijr hbpe after the bitter dis ftluskfament of the depression.’? He fitted, further, in the early pak^iof 1982 with 10,000 Ne unemployed in Gary a o families started a of co-operative busring 1 of $24 which has until today the Consum perative Trading Co. a. modern store and market and had f. 1035 r t>f $35,000. TKe com as a five year plan which provide for three' branch in Gary, branches •. in cities; fetorjj syst witl is sta mg cities; gasa’me a bakery ands a dairy, referring to the conflict Italy and Ethiopia, .|Beinhold Niebuhur com '* * the aggression of Italy $Ke‘ actions of the League ittee to gangland. Larger MM ; are • in sympathy each other $tnd have their iarr ways of getting rid of .smaller subjects or adver "V_.oe fisserted. HiiriNGUISHED PARTY AT J- HA>IPTON INSTITUTE pton Institute, January 1936.*—<)n. January 22, Dr. tr Howe, President, was ■to announce the coming'- of ft foarty of twelve missionaries visit Hampton „ Institute, iflg- under the-auspices of Phelps-Stokes. Fund and the ltural. |WCl?sions Eounda tidft of New York City. The par ty! arrived on the 23rd and re mained through the 26th. .'This Southern tour began on January- 20. -Thd. itinerary in cludes - visits - to governmental departments in wash Mfritation m^artment of , to1 the Virginia Randolph School near Richmond, where the Jeanes work was started in the United States, a trip to the Vir ginia State College for Negroes at Petersburg, Va.f visitations to representative training schools for Negroes, a trip to North Carolina, including vis its to Henderson Institute at Henderson* and the ofrice of the Director of Negro Ed ucation, Dr. N. C. Newbold, a visit t0 the State Deoartment of Education, Columbia, S. C., andthe Penn School on St. He lena Island. The party will con tinue South to the American Church Institute School at Fort Valley, Ga.. visitation to Tus kegee Institute and the Ca1 houn Colored School inAlabam" and Atlanta University. The following mfssionaries came in the party: Miss Dorothy Allan, Chn^ Missionary Society, Uganda, head of the Mission Junior School at Gayaza:1 Rev. H. J. Barnes, London Missionary So ciety, Northern Rhodesia, en gaged in general district work'; Rev. A. J. Butlin, Church Mis sionary Society, Uganda, head mistress of girls’ school; Rev. Wfm. C. Galbraith, iChurch [aS Scotland Mission, Llvingstoma, Nyasaland, headmaster of trains mg school; W. D. Griffiths, Presbyterian Gburch in the U. S. A., Etah, India, Principal of! boys’ school; Miss Gladys Mi - Taylor, Church Missionary Society, Tanganyika, headmis tress of girls’ boarding school; Rev. P. A. Unwin, Church Mis sionary Society, Uganda, train ing village teachers and :-upei m»ftg village sc loci?; A. M. Wil liams, general and education al* secretary of the Church Mis sionary Society, Uganda. Wal ter B. Hill, of Richmond, Field Assistant of the General Edu cation Board, accompanied the party.i ; ? 1. ■ . Jesus promised us his. spirit for our companion, teacher and guide, and spiritualised man hood is .the new species which he sought and-is stiil seeking to create.—Robert MacGowan. YENCHING UNIVERSITY UNDER CHINESE AND AMERICAN CONTROL Yenching University’s trus tees, following consultation With Dr. J. Leyton Stuart, President, now in this country, “are convinced that the work of the university can be continued no matter what may be the out come of present military activ ities in North China.” In a statement pointing out that Yenching University con tinues a work of higher Chris tian education of more than 65 years’ standing and has ad vanced throughemtitperipds of change and upheaval, the trus tees add: “The Chinese people whom Yenching is serving will re main. and the need for Chris tian higher education would be! only increased by conditions, which might interfere with the operation of other universities nd colleges in that area. The trustees are firm in their de termination that Yenching. Uhiversty shall contihue -to car ry on where it is.” Yenching University has this term its record enrollment of 885 students. Under charters of the Regents of the University of the State of New York and the Chinese government, Yenching grants degrees of B. A., B. D., B. S., M. A., and M. S. Chinese teachers outnum ber westerners nearly two to one on its faculty. The Univer sity plant at Peiping is valued at approximately $2,500,000 in Atnerican money. Cabled dispatches from Ghir na and occasional comments in the American press have re ferred! to the possibility of the removal ef Yenching Universe ty from its present location in. the environs of Peiping be cause of the disturbing poIiti% cal developments in North Chi na. The trustees of the Univer sity caireful consideration to - the, problems thus created, and have taken advantage of the recent arrival in this country of Pres ident Stuart to consult with him as to all the factors involved. The trustees would point out that the University is the out growth • of more than sixty-five years of Christian higher edu cational work which has gone constantly forward despite all the changes and upheavals that have taken place in China dur ing that period. Through the Sino-Japanese War, the Boxer Uprising, the Chinese Revolu tion, and all the political and military changes under the Chi nese 'Republic, the Work ,of which Yenching is the consum mation has grown steadily, and has become more deeply rooted in the soil -of China. Always it has enjoyed the friendship, con fidence and respect of the Chi nese people. Yenching University is reg istered under Chinese law, and n its consistent effort to con tribute to the progress of the Chinese people wthout involve ment in internal political issues should be assured of academic freedom and absence of interfer ence -regardless of changes in regional authority.' Its Board of trustees is incorporated under the laws of the State of Now York, and holds title to the property of the University un-. der American treaty rights. The endowment funds of the University ate held, in the Unit ed States, under control of the trustees. The Yenching trustees are convinced that the work of the University can be continued no matter what may be the out come of the present military ac tivities in North China, or what government may obtain in that region. The Chinese people whom Yenching is serving wiH remain, and the need for Chris tign higher education wotH only be increased by conditions which might interfere- with the operation of other universities and colleges in that area. The trustees are firm in their deter [ raination that Yenehiag Univer sity shall carry on where it is. VANN RETIRES FROM GOV ERNMENT SERVICE Chicago, Jan.—(ANP.) — Mr. Robert L. Vann, editor of Phe Pittsburgh ,Courier,, reai nrmed here Saturday, mat he aad tendered his resignation as special Assistant to tne U. s. Attorney General to take eitect February J. Mr. Vann, who had -.-eon appointed Juhe JiO, Bias, m a detmite statement as to his reason for leaving the govern mints service, said that he did so! purely because of the de mands of his own ousmess, which has been increasing m enormous volume during tne pajst tew years. Reports ironi Washington which had ruhiom* 3.t Mr. Vann wouiu assume irge of the democratic cam gn among colored voters tins yehr were denied by tne pdu .lsher. He admitteu as Wasu m^ton despatches had inuiuu suj that he had oeen permitted co name his successor and tnac ihoron Bertram Hamilton, ol Pittsburgh, would succeed to nit post February 1, Mr. Vann .will accompany Mr. Hamilton to Washington to nave him sworn in. Mr. Vann was attached to the Public Land Division of the Attorney Gen eral's office and is said to have win both the esteem and admi ration of his associates by his efficient work in the department. He was in Chicago to witness the Louis-RetzKaft" bout accom panied by several members of th|e Courier Staff, sincluding Ira F: Lewis, Managing Editor, and. cKester Washington, Sports Editor. While here he was . a guest of several social affairs giVen in his honor-. BAPTISTS OPPOSE U. S. IN DUSTRIAL COMMISSION feet Springs, Jan.—(ANP).— Tie Board of Directors of the National' Baptist Convention ■jffjqvt.nn record- as - being op posed to the f'Jegirtr IrtiuStnal Commission advocated by Con gressman Arthur W. Mitchell ddring its meeting held here iast week. The Board of Direc tors which held its mid-winter meeting simultaneously With a regional session of the conven tion, thus took issue with the Fraternal Council of Negro Churches. A group of five min isters, headed by Dr. R. R. Wright,. Jr., chairman, ana Bishop Reverdy C. Ransom, and representing » committee of 30 members, called on Pres dent Roosevelt early this month and endorsed the measure. Congressman Mitchell intro duced in the last Congress his bill which called for the ap pointment of a commission to stiidy the Negro. The measure empowered the President to ap point several members both col ored and white who were to su pervise research nito problems facing the group in this coun try and who were to receive salaries of $5,000 annually. The chairman would receive $7,500. The discussion among the Baptists gathered here, before the adoption of a resolution which said that they did n<?t look with favor upon the com mission, indicated that the body preferred seeing Negroes inte grated into every department of the government, that it was felt that the body would be without authority and its efforts purely recommendatory. It was declared on the floor that Con gressman Mitchell proposed a body which would be similar to the one governing Indian af fairs, but the Baptist leaders in condemning the measure insist ed! that Negroes were not wards of the government but full fledged citizens and producers. To be a true Christian is to be Christ-inspired. The follow er ofjesus kbows that his Lord is not a memory only. “Massa Linkum,” said the old Negr - vout of his great love' for the great emancipator, “am ebery where:” This is but a feeble sug gestion. of what Jesus meant when he said: “I am with ;you l always.”-—Robert MacGowan.
Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.)
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Jan. 23, 1936, edition 1
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