were once found in the South. Until Negro history, therefore, has been
removed from the hands of those using it to whitewash their ancestors
the world must still lack knowledge as to how the progress of mankind
has been influenced by the Negro.

* * * * *

_The Voice of the Negro._ By ROBERT T. KERLIN, Professor of
English at the Virginia Military Institute. New York, E. P.
Dutton and Company, 1920. Pp. xii, 188.

The purpose of this book may best be expressed in the words of the
author himself, when he says, in the preface: "The following work is a
compilation from the colored press of America for the four months
[July 1st to November 1st, 1919] immediately succeeding the Washington
riot. It is designed to show the Negro's reaction to that and like
events following, and to the World War and the discussion of the
Treaty. It may, in the Editor's estimation, be regarded as a primary
document in promoting a knowledge of the Negro, his point of view, his
way of thinking upon race relations, his grievances, his aspirations,
his demands." A book of such purport, especially when coming from the
pen of a white man, must attract attention, and if the newspapers and
periodicals from which the various extracts are chosen may be called
truly representative, as in this case they are, the compiler has
performed a distinct service in the field of American History.

Professor Kerlin has culled his clippings from eighty current Negro
periodicals, published from Massachusetts to Georgia, and ranging from
the startlingly radical to the most hide-bound conservative type. He
has used only articles written by Negroes in Negro publications, has
sorted them and grouped them under ten heads, entitled respectively:
The Colored Press, The New Era, The Negro's Reaction to the World War,
The Negro's Grievances and Demands, Riots, Lynchings, The South and
the Negro, The Negro and Labor Unionism and Bolshevism, Negro
Progress, and The Lyric Cry,--a remarkable assortment of first-hand
information concerning Negro thought with regard to each topic.

Professor Kerlin makes no attempt to interpret the material of his
book; he merely presents it. It is for him who reads also to read
between the lines. It is doubtless impossible to choose any one
expression that will accurately represent Negro thought as caught in
these pages, yet four lines of poetry included in the book will serve
as well as any:

"