Cayton's weekly. [volume], July 26, 1919, Image 1

About Cayton's weekly. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1916-1921

Image provided by: Washington State Library; Olympia, WA

                
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PRICE FIVE CENTS
CAYTON'S WEEKLY
Published every Saturday at Seattle, Washington.
U. S. A.
In the Interest of equal rights and equal Justice to
all men and for "all men up."
A publication of general information, but in
the main voicing the sentiments of the Colored
Citizens.
Subscription $2 per year in advance. Special
rates made to clubs and societies.
HORACE ROSCOE CAYTON. .Editor and Publisher
Entred as second class matter, August 18, 1916, at
the post office at Seattle, Wash., under the Act of
March 3rd, 1916.
ELEFHONE: BEACON 1910
Office 303 22nd Aye. South
ANTI-NEGRO RIOTS
As long as the white citizens of this
country permit their prejudices against the
colored citizens to assume a state of intoler
ance, which grows and grows until it be
" comes acute, there will be outbreaks be
tween the two classes —race riots, if you
please—of the kind that occurred in Wash
ington. D. C, one day this week. From
time to time, and more especially in the
South and the near South, the white folks
have shown their displeasure at the black
folks trying to "act like white folks," and
never lose an opportunity to try to put the
breaks on the actions of the colored folks
Avherever and whenever it is possible for
them to do so. In the most of the large
cities they colonized them and then charged
that the acts and depredations of the
criminal ones were the sentiments of the
entire colony, and when they set out to
punish the criminals they operated against
the whole on the theory. "All coons look
alike to me." In every community the
crimes of the colored folks are magni
fied, while their good behavior, if any
they have, is minimized. The metro
politan daily papers completely overlook
the good citizenry of the colored people
of their respective communities, but hold
up for public inspection and condemna
tion any crime that may be committed
by any one of them. Most any day may
be seen accounts of the police raiding
places of vice, wherein so and so many
men are arrested, and one, two or as many
Negroes as happened to be caught are like
wise arrested. In other words, the Negro
is the only distinct criminal that is desig
nated, he not even being classed a man.
If the colored citizens make an effort to
prove to the white citizens that it is a
mistake to judge all of them by the criminal
acts of one or more, no consideration is
given to whatever they say to the contrary.
It is generally considered below the dignity
of a "wihte man" to attend meetings con
ducted by the "niggers," and that, too,
whether such meetings be for the cause of
patriotism or for their own class uplift.
But last Tuesday evening a colored man of
national renown lectured in the auditorium
of the Y. M. C. A. of this city, preaching a
better understanding between the whites
and blacks of this country and yet not to
exceed a half dozen white folks were pres
ent and not one daily paper condescended
to reportorially cover the meeting that their
great army of white patrons might read for
themselves the efforts the colored man is
putting forth to smooth out the differences
between himself and the white man. Race
riots even more violent than any that has
as yet been reported in this country will
disgrace this "land of the free" unless both
white and colored citizens try to see the
good instead of the bad in each other. As
long as the white citizens teach their chil-
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, SATURDAY, JULY 26, 1919.
dren that colored citizens are citizens by
mistake and that they are invariably crim
inal at heart, and even when not actual
criminals very undesirable citizens, just so
long will the spirit of intoleration against
the colored citizens fatten and grow strong
among the white citizens and they will
never lose an opportunity to resent the
efforts of colored citizens acting like citi
zens and to prevent such, mobs of whites
Avill endeavor to exterminate the masses of
black citizens that happen to live near
them. Good and considerate white citizens
of any community make more commendable
colored citizens of that immediate vici
nity. There is no inspiration for colored
citizens to be good citizens if they realize
that the white citizens prejudge all colored
men and women as "a damn bad bunch."
Not long since three policemen of Seattle
said to the editor hereof, "The average
colored man is not only a criminal at heart,
but a damn thief." That is not true and
the average white man does not believe it,
but he will neither publcily refute it or
rebuke the white man for distributing such
dangerous public propaganda. The next
day after the policeman made the above
assertion he, with others, were arrested for
stealing and subsequently dismissed from the
force, but his propaganda has continued to
grow. If the white citizens of this country
would but realize that the colored citizens
are endeavoring to be like them and to be
seen as they are there might be fewer
clashes—race riots, if you please—and less
danger of government disturbances. All
anti-Negro demonstrations in this country
have their origin in color prejudice, though
their immediate origin be in the criminal
act of some colored individual. Tf in the
South a colored man actually rapes ?i white
woman, he is but resenting the criminal
cohabitation of most Avhite men with, per
haps, his own wife or daughter, and thus
does crime beget crime. Now, brethren, let
us reason together and endeavor to help
each other out of the quagmires r.f intoler
Place and we will have a better citizenry
irrespective of color or creed.
RIOTS AND
Tn spite of the publicity the leading
editorial in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
has already had, it is being reproduced
because it brings out the fact that coloi
intoleration is wholly responsible for such
outbreaks and further points out that the
great white nation of America had better
dean up at home before trying to clean up
abroad. The editorial says:
"The race riots which have been going
on for days in the capital of this nation
must make interesting- reading for the
people of Europe, who look upon us, or at
least our administration, as the bodyguard
of democracy and the battlers for oppressed
peoples. If they have accepted all that our
spokesmen have said at its word value, they
cannot be but puzzled that such things could
be under the very eye of democracy's
leader. If the world is to be made safe for
democracy by the United States, democracy
cannot very well hunt "niggers" on the
streets of our capital, at least without set
ting the rest of the world a bad example.
"The trouble in Washington is the old
one. Some Negro committed an offense
against a white woman, or at least is ac
cused of an offense. But to the Lithuanian,
the Savoyard or Turk it will be at once
apparent that all the Negroes of Washing
ton did not commit the offense, and the
idea that, because a man is of the same
epidermal tint as the offender he should be
mobbed and bludgeoned, will not appeal to
those Europeans the least equipped to
reason. To the dullest it will be obvious
that race antipathy is discerned at the
bottom of not a few of the present and past
super-riots in European Avars, the emptiness
of most of our perpetual peace platitudes
will be their most impressive feature.
"Making allowance for the Russian and
Polish ignorance of local affairs and for the
scrappy disconnected details of these race
riot« that will reach Russian and Pole, what
will be their disposition when they receive
our prtoests against the pogroms? Can they
take the resolutions which we passed with
so much solemnity seriously? Common
sense tells us that they will think the same
thoughts as Aye would if the situations were
reversed.
"Those who display so much enthusiasm
for the legal forms of constitutions and
covenants might well consider the facts of
human nature as evidenced in these Wash
ington riots. There is plenty of law to deal
with the offending- Negroes; plenty of law
to protect the innocent Negroes. All the
forms and all the officials are ready at hand.
Still nnmistakahly the condition in Wash
ington is one of anarchy, white against
black. What do "men everywhere" say to
this? Are there any yearning's audible?
Soldiers and sailors who fought to make the
world safe for democracy are conspicuous
in the mobs, no doubt energetically beating 1
up black soldiers and sailors who also
fought to make the world safe for the same
democracy.
"Ho! Hum! What a funny world!"
WHAT OF THE FUTURE
Despite the fact this old world in its
present form and fashion has only heen in
existence not to exceed ten thousand years,
if that, yet scientists tell us that in some
form or fashion it has heen wagging along
for millions of years, it having from time
to time undergone physical changes, owiliSf
to convulsions from within and corrosive in
fluences from without. During all those
years of its existence, in one form or an
other, it has heen fully peopled, who have
lived and died just as they do of this day
and age. Our religion teaches us, man
being an infinite being, does not die, hut
lives always in soul, though the body, which
is the home of the real man from the cradle
to the grave, sickens and dies, when the
soul, directed by an omnipotent hand, goes
to a final home, somewhere in space. If
that soul, during the life of the body, lives
according to the directions of Christianity
it goes to a home of everlasting happiness,
and if not, it goes to a home not quite so
inviting 1, hut to whichever it goes the ques
tion is. If souls have heen going to one or
both of those imaginary homes as regularly
as they are now doing, for all of those mil
lions of years are not those homes pretty
well jammed by this time?
While thinking OH this subject jim idea
came to our mind. May. perhaps, the sonls
leaving this world become inhabitants
of other worlds and as they fill up one
another is created and prepared for occu
pancy, and so on ad infinitum. After all.
may perhaps the Darwin theory is not half
had and as we jro from world to world in
VOL. IV.. No. 7