National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

“ I therefore very earnestly and solemnly beg that the governors of all the states, the law officers of every community, and above all, the men and women of every community in the United States, all who revere America and wish to keep her name without stain or reproach, will co-operate, not passively merely, but actively and watchfully to make an end of this disgraceful evil. It cannot live where the community does not countenance it. ”

“ Unless the colored child can be educated he is at a fearful disadvantage. An uneducated Negro population menaces national well-being. This education should be of hand and brain and can be adequately done for all Negro children, not the fortunate few, only by public schools. ”

“ Thus it may be in the interest of the Association in every case to make a frontal attack on segregation, to press for an immediate breaking down of racial barriers, and to sacrifice minor points that may win a given case for the major points that may win other cases too. ”

“ Discrimination once permitted cannot be bridled; recent history in the South shows that in forging chains for the Negroes the white voters are forging chains for themselves. ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand’; this government cannot exist half-slave and half-free any better to-day than it could in 1861.
“Hence we call upon all the believers in democracy to join in a national conference for the discussion of present evils, the voicing of protests, and the renewal of the struggle for civil and political liberty.” ”

“ The colored people of the United States are sadly in need of a National Scientific Association, to which may be brought yearly reports of such investigations as may be achieved in science, philosophy, art, philology, ethnology, jurisprudence, metaphysics, and whatever may tend to unite the race in their moral, social, intellectual and physical improvement.
We have negro artists of a high order, both in painting and sculpture; also, discoverers who hold patents, and yet the world knows little or nothing about them. The time for the negro to work out his destiny has arrived. ”

“ Generally to keep the evil of lynching before the American people as a live issue and to offer a constructive program for its abolition. The Association, through its president and secretary, acting for the Anti-Lynching Committee, took the initiative in promoting a National Conference on Lynching which will be held in New York City on the fifth and sixth of May, 1919, for the purpose of focusing the attention of the nation on this blot upon America's fair name and of working out an effective, constructive program for its abolition. ”

“ In another case it is the common belief in the community in which a Negro was lynched for "killing a white woman" that the husband of the woman was himself the murderer. No charge has been brought against him, however, by the authorities. In such cases, Negroes are usually too fearful of danger and too hopeless of anything being done, to initiate legal action. In an additional case a bank cashier declared in an interview in an Alabama paper, that a certain lynching victim had committed no offense, that there had been a mistake made in the man the mob was after. ”

“ In the absence of combined action by Negroes forcibly to protect members of their race, the lynching of black men and women by white men for all causes and no cause, so far as crimes are concerned, can only be compared, although in lesser degree, to Russian pogroms against Jews under the Tzarist regime, or to Turkish attacks upon the Armenians. ”

“ NAACP's principal relevant activities in Virginia are appearing before legislative bodies and commissions in support of, or opposition to, measures affecting the status of the Negro race within the State, and furnishing assistance to Negroes concerned in litigation involving their constitutional rights. Fund performs functions similar to those of NAACP in the field of litigation, but is precluded by its charter from attempting to influence legislation. The revenues of NAACP are derived both from membership dues and general contributions, those of Fund entirely from contributions. ”

“ Lynching is rapidly becoming a national issue. Under the stress of war time, mob violence has menaced communities heretofore relatively immune. Four white men were lynched in 1918. And yet, when all the facts are summed up, and we would be the last to minimize the evil of mob violence or to excuse it in the least degree, the lynching of Negroes by whites is the outstanding fact in the situation. ”

“ To emancipate in fact, as well as in name, a race of nearly 12,000,000 American-born citizens.
The only means we can employ are education, organization, agitation, publicity—the force of an enlightened public opinion. ”

“ They have repeatedly and handsomely acknowledged that the success of its instruction has convinced them that the colored race can receive a high degree of culture. The demonstration of this fact has an important bearing upon the whole subject of public education. Not only the colored people, but the white people of all classes, especially the poorer classes, will receive great benefit from the quickening of public sentiment, produced by the success of this institution. ”

“ For such must inevitably be the case, and that, too, at no distant day, if black men do not take advantage of the opportunity, by grasping hold of those places where chance is in their favor, and establishing the rights and power of the colored race.
We must make an issue, create an event, and establish for ourselves a position. This is essentially necessary for our effective elevation as a people, in shaping our national development, directing our destiny, and redeeming ourselves as a race. ”

“ Most atrocious of all, so far as the community was concerned, was the five days' orgy in Brooks and Lowndes Counties, which has been made the occasion for special publicity and special efforts by the Association, to which reference is made on page 9 of this report. In that case the particularly vicious brutality of the mob went beyond what one is prepared to expect from Georgia mobs—and one expects a good deal in the way of "cruel and unusual punishments" from them. ”

“ The narrative of the African American pursuit of full citizenship with all of the rights and privileges afforded others in this country is also the story of a maturing young Nation. The voices and examples of the African American people worked collectively to remove the boulders of systemic racism and discrimination that pervaded our laws and our public consciousness for decades. ”

“ The Solicitor carried on an investigation for two weeks, examining 21 white and 9 colored witnesses. The coroner's jury ran true to form, finding that the victim came to his death at the hands of "parties unknown" to the jury.
The two leading Raleigh newspapers, one of them owned by Secretary of the Navy Daniels, carried strong editorial comment against the lynching and criticized the dereliction of the officers in allowing their prisoner to be taken from them. One of them commented directly and favorably on the Association's telegrams to the Governor. ”

“ The horrible cruelties visited upon Mary Turner, an eight month's pregnant woman, are recited in the investigation published of our investigator's findings. [8]
In two cases the lynchings were carried out in the court house yard and in one of these picture post card photos were sold on the streets at 25 cents each.
{12} Taken from Peace Officers and Jails Our records show the following number of cases of lynchings of Negroes in which the victim was taken from officers or jails:
Innocence Admitted Publicly In three cases of which we have record the press has spoken of the innocence of victims ”

“ African-American organizations have played a vital role in achieving justice and equal rights, and they have helped make communities across our country stronger and better. This year's theme of African American History Month, "Celebrating Community: A Tribute to Black Fraternal, Social, and Civic Institutions," recognizes the African-American groups that have worked to confront injustices and expand opportunities. ”

“ The time for colored men and women to organize for self-improvement has arrived. Moral, social, and intellectual development, should be the main attainment of the negro race. Colored people have so long been in the habit of aping the whites, and often not the better class either, that I fear this characteristic in them, more than anything else. ”

“ We can not but indulge the hope that the facts disclosed above, if they do not lead to an effort to raise the character of the colored population, will strengthen the hands and encourage the hearts of all the friends of colonizing the free people of color in the United States. ”

“ These supervisors are capable of Southern white men who are devoting their energy with much success to the advancement of Negro schools. Their efforts have already resulted in small but significant increases in public appropriations, a better attitude toward Negro education, and greater cooperation between public and private institutions. ”

“ So that America continues to remain a land of opportunity for all people, we should encourage a wide representation of African Americans as teachers and continued concern for African American students. The National Alliance of Black School Educators is committed to these goals. By inspiring students with a vision of excellence, we can touch the lives of countless youngsters in present and future generations for the better. ”

“ It is a fact that a blind man must be able to perceive, that the bitter prejudice is becoming less aggravating. The rough edges of personal opposition are being worn down smooth, and in the course of less than another generation, the prejudices against Colored Americans will be almost a horrid dream of the past.
THE DIGNITY OF THE RACE It is for the Colored American to help smother the remaining shadows of former prejudices by maintaining the dignity of his race, and by education, fitting himself to stand beside any race on the earth. ”

“ At the close of the Civil war only five per cent of our Colored Americans could read and write. In the year 1900, the number had increased to 55.5 per cent, and in 1910, the number reached 69.5 per cent. This is an astonishing increase in education, and it proves the reason why our Colored Americans are forging to the front in the arts and 39sciences, trade, commerce, and the professions. It is stupendous progress when we consider that scarcely two generations were required to bring about this uplift of an entire race. It takes the banner of racial improvement. ”

“ We must also educate the colored race, and they ought to be educated for the benefit of the Union, and by the friends of the Union. I would devote the proceeds of the public lands to this purpose on a basis of illiteracy. The colored people are citizens, and we must do them justice. ”

“ Over the course of America’s history, Black Americans have helped to build, strengthen, and lead our Nation towards becoming a more perfect Union. Although for far too long, Black Americans were denied even the most basic access to education, the vital contributions of Black Americans in the fields of science, academia, business, and public service, among others, are a testament to the resilience of Black Americans and the steps our Nation has taken to expand access to education and opportunity. ”

“ The newly-emancipated were not entirely oblivious to some of the advantages and benefits that follow from education, for they were constantly in touch with the master-class, so that when the opportunity was offered the colored people flocked to the schools in numbers far beyond the accommodations given. The colored people showed such avidity for learning and made such surprising progress that it seemed almost miraculous. Dr. Mayo says: "No people in human history have made such progress as the colored people of the United States." ”

“ The American Negro Academy believes that upon those of the race who have had the advantage of higher education and culture, rests the responsibility of taking concerted steps for the employment of these agencies to uplift the race to higher planes of thought and action. ”

“ Philip G. Peabody, of Boston, Mass., in the fall of 1916, toward a fund of $10,000 to be used in a vigorous campaign against the lynching evil. The Association's president, Mr. Moorfield Storey, contributed a second $1,000 and as the result of a wide-spread appeal an amount slightly in excess of $10,000 over and above the cost of the appeal was subscribed. The Association is endeavoring to raise approximately $10,000 annually to carry on this work.
The principal activities of the anti-lynching campaign include:
Investigation of as many of the lynchings as possible. ”

“ Globally, the United States supports organizations to empower racial and ethnic minority communities, and uphold the dignity of people who are systematically denied their human rights and fundamental freedoms. Programs support locally-led efforts to combat all types of racial and ethnic hatred and violence and facilitate access to justice for victims of racism. Initiatives are intersectional and support individuals who face discrimination on account of gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, race or ethnicity, religion, and national origin. ”

“ There are those among his friends who would stake their all upon his veracity and integrity; and we are sure that the colored people throughout America, in whose cause he has so long labored, will with one accord assign the highest niche in their affections to the champion of universal emancipation. ”