THE NEGRO QUESTION

The number of books, pamphlets, and special articles upon this subject,
written by Northerners, Southerners, negroes, and even foreigners, is
enormous. These publications range from displays of hysterical
emotionalism to statistical studies, but no one book can treat fully all
phases of so complex a question. Bibliographies have been prepared by
W.E.B. Du Bois, A.P.C. Griffin, and others. W.L. Fleming has appended a
useful list of titles to _Reconstruction of the Seceded States (1905)_.

F.L. Hoffman, a professional statistician of German birth, in _Race
Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro (1896)_, has collected much
valuable material but all his conclusions cannot be accepted without
question. Special _Bulletins_ on the negro are published by the United
States Census Bureau, of which the issues for 1904 and 1915 should
especially be consulted. Some of the _Publications_ of Atlanta
University contain valuable studies of special localities or
occupations.

Several negroes have written histories of their race. George W.
Williams's _History of the Negro Race in America from 1619 to 1880, 2
vols. (1883)_, is old but contains material of value. William H. Thomas,
in _The American Negro (1901)_, is pessimistic as to the future
because of the moral delinquencies of his people. Booker T. Washington's
_The Story of the Negro, the Rise of the Race from Slavery (1909)_, on
the other hand, emphasizes achievements rather than deficiencies and is
optimistic in tone. Of this writer's several other books, the _Future of
the American Negro (1899)_ is the most valuable. Kelly Miller has
written _Race Adjustment_ (1908) and _An Appeal to Conscience (1918),
besides many articles and monographs all marked by excellent temper. On the
other hand, W.E.B. Du Bois, in _The Souls of Black Folk_ (1903) and in his
other writings, voices the bitterness of one to whom the color line has
proved an "intolerable indignity."

Ray Stannard Baker in _Following the Color Line_ (1908) gives the
observations of a trained metropolitan journalist and is eminently sane
in treatment. William Archer, the English author and journalist
expresses a European point of view in _Through Afro-America_ (1910).
Carl Kelsey's _The Negro Farmer_ (1903) is a careful study of
agricultural conditions in eastern Virginia. A collection of valuable
though unequal papers is contained in the _Annals of the American
Academy of Political and Soci