Page:The Afro-American Press.djvu/490

482 persistently obtrude upon the notice of others, who either have no such grievance themselves, or do not wish to be reminded of the fact that they have one. As long, however, as men are struck, they will cry out in protest or indignation until the wrongs are avenged.

A sufficient answer to all those who do not understand why we have colored newspapers, would seem to be the fact that white men have newspapers; that they are published by white men for white men; give, in the main, news about white men, and pitch their editorial opinions entirely in the interest of white men. I know that there are many papers in the country whose editors make great profession of love for colored citizens; but they are partisan advocates, striving for partisan advantage, and have no more real, practical love for the negro than the editors of newspapers, avowedly their enemies. I have more respect for the latter than for the former. An open enemy is an easier man to handle than a hypocritical friend. A man who preaches one thing and practices another, is beneath contempt. Is there one paper published by white men in any one of the eleven Southern states to-day, in which colored men receive the same news and editorial treatment that white men receive? Let those ignorant negroes, who pretend that they can not understand why colored newspapers are published, answer this question; and if they can not, let them slink away out of the sight of honest men who understand the serious nature of the negro problem, and are honestly endeavoring to solve it in the right way. I confess that I have small patience with this sort of negro Jonah. I would throw him overboard in short order, and with no thought or care that he find a haven from death in some vagrant whale's belly.

As a regrettable fact, the white Press of the South is leagued against the negro and his rights, and it is re-enforced by quite two-thirds of the Press of the North and West.