Page:The Relations of the Advanced and the Backward Races of Mankind.djvu/41

 We have already noted that races which are near one another in physical aspect and structure tend to mix, and that the race produced by their mixture is equal or superior to either of the progenitors.

We have also noted that where races are dissimilar in aspect, and especially in colour, one at least is generally repelled by the other, so that there is little admixture by intermarriage. This is more plainly the case as regards whites (especially North European whites) and blacks than it is as regards other races.

We have further been led to conclude, though more doubtfully, for the data are imperfect, that the mixture of races very dissimilar, and especially of European whites with blacks, tends rather to lower than to improve the resultant stock. That it should be lower than the higher progenitor seems natural. But does it show a marked improvement upon the inferior progenitor? May not the new mixed race stand, not halfway between the two parent stocks, but nearer the lower than the higher?

Should this view be correct, it dissuades any attempt to mix races so diverse as are the white Europeans and the negroes. The wisest men among the coloured people of the Southern States of America do not desire the intermarriage of their race with the whites. They prefer to develop it as a separate people, on its own lines, though of course by the help of the whites. The negro race in America is not wanting in intelligence. It is fond of learning. It has already made a considerable advance. It will cultivate self-respect better by standing on its own feet than by seeking blood