ough
freedom to the present moment. Who will be brave enough to say that
the colored race, as a whole, has not increased in numbers and grown
stronger mentally, morally, religiously, industrially, and in the
accumulation of property? In a word, has not the Negro, at every
stage, shown a tendency to grow into harmony with the best type of
American civilization?

Professor Straton lays special stress upon the moral weakness of the
race. Perhaps the worst feature of slavery was that it prevented the
development of a family life, with all of its far-reaching
significance. Except in rare cases the uncertainties of domicile made
family life, during two hundred and fifty years of slavery, an
impossibility. There is no institution so conducive to right and high
habits of physical and moral life as the home. No race starting in
absolute poverty could be expected, in the brief period of thirty-five
years, to purchase homes and build up a family life and influence that
would have a very marked impression upon the life of the masses. The
Negro has not had time enough to collect the broken and scattered
members of his family. For the sake of illustration, and to employ a
personal reference, I do not know who my own father was; I have no
idea who my grandmother was; I have or had uncles, aunts and cousins,
but I have no knowledge as to where most of them now are. My case will
illustrate that of hundreds of thousands of black people in every part
of our country. Perhaps those who direct attention to the Negro's
moral weakness, and compare his moral progress with that of the
whites, do not consider the influence of the memories which cling
about the old family homestead upon the character and aspirations of
individuals. The very fact that the white boy is conscious that, if he
fails in life, he will disgrace the whole family record, extending
back through many generations, is of tremendous value in helping him
to resist temptations. On the other hand, the fact that the individual
has behind him and surrounding him proud family history and
connections serves as a stimulus to make him overcome obstacles, when
striving for success. All this should be taken into consideration, to
say nothing of the physical, mental and moral training which
individuals of the white race receive in their homes. We must not pass
judgment on the Negro too soon. It requires centuries for the
influence of home, school, church and public contact to permeate the