The Colored Regulars in the United States Army by T. G. Steward
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page 14 of 387 (03%)
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presentation of facts can deduce what is to be, it is no small tribute
to the correctness of his interpretations; for all events are parts of one vast system ever moving toward some great end. One remark only need be made. It is reasonable to presume that this new Afro-American will somehow and somewhere be given an opportunity to express that particular modification of material life which his spiritual nature will demand. Whether that expression will be made here or elsewhere; whether it will be higher or lower than what now surrounds us, are questions which we may well leave to the future. No people can win and hold a place, either as a nation among other nations, or as an elementary component of a nation, merely by its own goodness or by the goodness of others. The struggle for national existence is a familiar one, and is always initiated by a display of physical force. Those who have the power seize territory and government, and those who CAN, keep possession and control. It is in some instances the backing up of right by might, and in others the substituting of right by might. Too often the greatest of all national crimes is to be weak. When the struggle is a quiet one, going on within a nation, and is that of an element seeking a place in the common social life of the country, much the same principles are involved. It is still a question to be settled by force, no matter how highly the claim of the weaker may be favored by reason and justice. The powers by which a special people may emerge from an unhappy condition and secure improved social relations, using the word social in its broadest sense, are physical, intellectual and material. There must be developed manly strength and courage and a power of intellect which will manifest itself in organization and attractiveness, and in the aptitude of employing appropriate methods for ends in view. To |
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