God. As Dr. Booker T. Washington so well says: "He went into slavery,
practically, without a language, and came out speaking the beautiful
English, the finest language to convey thought, ever devised by the
mind of man. He went in without a God, and came out with the Christian
religion." These are powerful agencies for civilization, and yet, the
debasing influence of slavery has done much to hinder, while it has
done something to help him. Only a comparatively few Negroes came into
direct contact with the best side of American civilization, during
slavery. The housemaids, coachmen, body-servants and, in many cases,
the cooks came in direct contact with the civilization of the "Great
House," and their superiority, and, in many cases, that of their
ancestry, is still apparent. The "corn field Negro" (and they
outnumbered the others 200 to 1) received none of the influences of
this civilization, and none of the opportunities accorded the more
favored servants around the "Great House."

When we take into consideration all of these circumstances, coupled
with the fact that when "cut loose" from slavery in 1865, it was a
matter of "root hog or die" with him for many years; and that only
thirty-six years have passed away since this happy event, his
achievements have been marvelous.

Optimist, as I try to be, I am not one of those who believe that the
Negro has reached the delectable mountain, and that he is as good as
anybody else. He is far from perfection, far from comparison with the
more favored Anglo-Saxon, in wealth and culture, yet he has made
progress commensurate with his opportunities.

It is a well-known philosophical axiom, that "action is equal to
reaction, and in a contrary direction." The American Negro is now