ake good this conviction,
coupled with constant anxiety lest, by some means, he should fail to
make it good. The race problem, in other words, is NOT that the Negro is
what he is in relation to the white man, the white man's inferior; but
this, rather: How to keep him what he is in relation to the white man;
how to prevent his ever achieving or becoming that which would justify
the belief on his part, or on the part of other people, that he and the
white man stand on common human ground.

That such is the heart of the problem should be made evident by this
general consideration alone: namely, that everywhere in the South
friction between the races is entirely absent so long as the Negro
justifies the white man's opinion of him as an inferior; is grateful for
privileges and lays no claim to RIGHTS. Let him seem content to be as
the South insists he shall be, and not only is he not harshly treated,
not abused, and never boycotted, but he is shown much kindness and
generosity, and employment awaits him for the asking. Trouble brews when
he begins to manifest those qualities, to reveal those tastes, to
give vent to those ambitions, which are supposed to be characteristic
exclusively of the higher human type, and which, unless restrained,
would result in confounding the lower with the higher. The expression
"Good Nigger" means everywhere in the South a real Negro, from the
Southern standpoint, one who in no respect gets out of focus with that
standpoint; the expression "Bad Nigger" means universally one who in
some respect, not necessarily criminal, does get out of focus with it.
So, stated differently, the race problem is the problem how to keep the
Negro in focus with the traditional standpoint.

But we are very far from needing to rely upon any general consideration
in support of the proposition advanced above. It is supported by
evidences on every hand, waiting only the eye of recognition. Scarcely
a day passes but something is said or done with this end in view, to
emphasize, lest they forget, the conviction for both white man and Negro
that the latter is and must remain an inferior. Let me instance a few
such evidences.

Consider, first, the "Jim Crow" legislation in the manner of its
enforcement. Such legislation is supposed to have for its object the
separation of the races in trains, street-cars, etc., to save the
white people from occasional contact with drunken, rowdy, ill-smelling
Negroes, and to prevent perso