Sparkling Gems of Race Knowledge Worth Reading Part 9

Hence, as a general rule, they are exceedingly fine scholars. It is a sad fact, yet it is a hard fact, that less than one-third of the white physicians now practicing in the South, together with those preparing to come out, are college graduates. This cannot be said of the colored physicians. We have them from the leading medical inst.i.tutions in America. They are here from the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard Medical College, Yale School of Medicine, Meharry Medical College, Howard Medical College, Ann Arbor Medical College, Lenard Medical College, and many of the medical schools of Chicago, Cleveland, and New Orleans. The examinations they pa.s.s, often before a prejudiced board, and their excellent record as physicians go to show that these schools are sending us no mean material.

These good men and women are, by their skill and G.o.d's help, reducing the death rate of the colored people to a wonderful degree. They are teaching the people the common laws of hygiene, and many other things pertaining to the health of their people that they were never taught before. They are lecturing in the schools in their cities on important topics relative to the care of school buildings and school children.

They are in many places school commissioners and city and county physicians. As skilled physicians the fame of some is known far and wide. The whites frequently call a colored physician now. The question now is not, What is his color? but, Can he do me any good? Right here in Atlanta, Ga., I am frequently called to see white patients. Think of it! a colored physician attending white patients here in a city where not forty years ago members of his race were sold like cattle.

If thirty-five years have brought this change, what will thirty-five years more bring? Yes, it has not been three hours since two white patients left my office.

The white profession in the South, especially the better cla.s.s of them, give the colored members of the profession a hearty welcome to the field. They always have a kind word for them. They will consult with them, lend them books or instruments, and do anything they can to push the colored brother forward. This, I say, is the best element.

The poor, half-starved fellow will not do this; but, on the contrary, will do all that he can to pull the colored physician down. Hence we have this cla.s.s to watch, and for this reason I always consult with the best in my city, and would advise all other colored physicians to do the same.

The colored physicians have fine horses, carriages, and beautiful homes. Some own plantations, and others run large bank accounts.

As professors, the colored physicians of the South are holding some high positions with honor to themselves and their race. At New Orleans University Dr. Mellin is dean of the medical department of that inst.i.tution. At Meharry Medical College we have Dr. R. F. Boyd, professor of the diseases of women and clinical medicine; Dr. H. T.

Noel, demonstrator of anatomy; Dr. W. P. Stewart, professor of pathology, and there are other professors in the pharmaceutical and dental departments. Dr. Scruggs is a professor at Lenard Medical School. Besides these, there are several of the colored physicians delivering courses of lectures on various topics in different schools.

The colored physician in the South, for fear of being refused, has never made an application to become a member of any of the medical a.s.sociations; but, knowing the great good that comes from contact, in several of the states they have organized themselves into a.s.sociations, and are doing a n.o.ble work in their yearly meetings.

Texas, North Carolina, and Georgia have excellent state medical a.s.sociations, composed entirely of colored physicians. One of the beautiful points about the colored physicians of the South is that the majority of them are Christian men and women. This has much to do with their success.

The South is the field for well-equipped colored physicians. If they want to do good work, let them come South; if they want to be felt as a leader of the people, let them come South; if they want to make money, let them come South; if they are looking for work, let them come South; and if they wish to do charity work, the South is the field.

THE FIRST COLORED SPECIALIST.

Dr. Samuel J. Harris is a young man of eminent ability and skill, and has the mental capabilities to become one of the leading physicians of this country. He is the first colored specialist of the eye, ear, and throat in the United States. He is not only a young man who demonstrated marked ability as a student, but he is a doctor who possesses ample means to supply himself with all of the instruments and literature which are required to advance him in his professional work.

Dr. Harris is the son of Mr. Sam Harris, the well-known merchant of Williamsburg, Va., who does probably the largest business of its kind of any colored man in the United States.

ESPECIAL COMPANY.

(FROM CHICAGO APPEAL.)

Should a young lady accept the attentions of one young man to the exclusion of all others before betrothal takes place? It is not wise to do so. A girl may be interested in a man and think that she cares for him enough to marry him, and yet there may be others whom she would love more dearly could she know them. She should not deprive herself of the opportunity to make comparisons. A young man is very foolish when he insists upon a girl receiving attentions from no one but himself, even after betrothal. A girl is equally foolish when she objects to her lover paying attentions to other girls. If either can become more interested in another, it certainly ought to be known before marriage. There would be fewer unhappy marriages and fewer divorces if young people of both s.e.xes could be impressed with the idea that they must decide what characteristics their happiness requires in a life partner and that they must not marry until they have found some one possessing such characteristics. This can only be learned by companionship, and is seldom considered by those whose first thought is that no one else can be studied but the object of their present fancy.

Again, it places a young girl at a great disadvantage to be looked upon as the "exclusive property" of any young man. An honorable man hesitates to offer attentions to a young lady under such conditions, even though he may be sure that the man is not in earnest or that such a union could not be happy or that the young lady possesses exactly the qualities which he himself would find harmonious. Under present social conditions a girl may not make known her preferences unless the man first declares himself, and if she happens to make a mistake and is known as the sweetheart of the wrong young man, there is little chance that she may find the right one. Not only before, but after betrothal, both parties should feel free to a.s.sociate with whomsoever they please, and no objection should be raised by the other simply on the ground that "we belong to each other now." That such freedom may be a.s.sured, I believe that the betrothal should be kept an absolute secret between the parties concerned.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CHARLIE JOHNSON.

The Missionary Baptist "Boy Preacher," of Louisiana, who is creating such a sensation in the South. Age, 13 years.]

THE SPHERE OF WOMAN.

BY MRS. R. E. LAWSON, WASHINGTON, D. C.

The time has come when woman no longer accepts the hearthstone as the circ.u.mscribed arena of her activities. Amid the busy whirl of this nineteenth century we behold her stepping with well-shod feet boldly across the threshold where hitherto her ambitions have been smothered or held in check by social customs and prejudice, taking her place in the various avocations which bring to mankind peace and happiness, through an honest dollar for its equivalent in honest toil.

If we will notice the index finger in the plane of human advancement and limit its progress to the strides made in civilization within the last forty years, it will be readily acknowledged that the woman movement during these years has made no insignificant ripple in the tide of human achievements. There is scarcely a profession which has not felt the impress of her presence; scarcely a moral reform, from the antislavery cause of the past to the great temperance movement of to-day, which has not received her sanction and hearty support.

Wherever she has gone forth she has acquitted herself creditably, and successfully lived down all attempts to ridicule and cast opprobrium upon her adventure. This forward march, which has been likened to a great tidal wave, has carried in its course higher education for woman, including her entrance to the medical, legal, and clerical professions, the position as trustee on school boards in various sections, the restoration to married women of a right to their own property, and various other reforms tending to broaden her sphere, increase her activities, and heighten her self-respect.

Side by side with this uniform impulse on the part of woman to know and to be known in life's arena have come to its twin sister the progress and unprecedented achievements of the Negro in America. The school may instruct and the Church may teach, but the home is an inst.i.tution older than the Church and antedates the school, the place where the children should be trained for useful citizenship on earth and hope of holy communion in heaven.

Our hands have ever been firm upon the rudder, guiding and governing the education of our youth for years of future usefulness.

I take it that we, as colored women, must regard ourselves as a peculiar people in these advanced movements. We cannot afford to be swept along in the current of daily happenings without thoughtfully comparing our status and conditions with all that surround us, questioning for a moment whether the experiment will prove an expensive luxury or wholesome and digestible food. Economy of time, economy of means, economy of action, must be our constant watchwords.

The Negro woman, being the most potent factor in the intellectual development of the race, must be aroused to a consideration of the fact that to improve the intellect and neglect the moral and physical growth of our youth will be to impose upon society dangerous citizens.

THE MOURNING PREACHER.

BY J. C. M'ADAMS, SHELBYVILLE, TENN.

Why do our educated ministers "mourn" when preaching? There are honorable exceptions, but the rule is as stated. We have heard ministers whose educational qualifications were all that could be desired, whose exegeses were faultless, who in their perorations would depart from all standards. They exhume the dead, they picture the beatific splendors of the New Jerusalem, they paint the horrors of h.e.l.l, they describe deathbed scenes, etc. They do this whether or not it has any connection with the subject in hand. Then it is that the "spirit" comes. I do not think that I have overdrawn. I have heard some of our best ministers, and the general statement is true. Our educated ministers are making a serious mistake. This pulpit mannerism is a relic of the days of slavery, and the minister who indulges in it is simply perpetuating a barbarism and is r.e.t.a.r.ding the religious progress of the race. It is true, perhaps, that in most of our congregations large numbers of people love to hear the "tone," but when and how are the people ever to become acquainted with higher religious ideas? How can a minister elevate his congregation when he persistently clings to the practices of thirty years ago?

These ministers seem not to know that nine-tenths of the young, educated, and progressive cla.s.ses are disgusted with them. This explains the lethargy manifested by the above-minded cla.s.ses toward the Church. The Church, like all other inst.i.tutions, must be progressive. The fact that these men are keeping the Church back in the dingy past puts them out of sympathy with it. I recently heard a well-known minister, after howling and ranting and mourning to his heart's content, speak of himself as the "wild presiding elder." He certainly made that impression on several of his audience.

[Ill.u.s.tration: REV. J. M. CONNER, LITTLE ROCK, ARK.]

One of the great mistakes of our religious life is our mistaking noise for religion. With many of our unthinking cla.s.ses it is the "mourn"

which they enjoy in the sermons. Instead of carrying home some practical thought and trying to weave it into their lives, they become infatuated with certain tones and give vent to their "feelings" by making the welkin ring. If this is religion, I have been mistaken. If this kind of preaching is an inspiration, it is peculiar to us as a people. If noise and demonstrations are necessary parts of religious worship, then other races are largely wanting in this essential.

The mourning preachers will admit in private that there is no virtue in the mourn, and that they do it simply to "touch up" the old folks.

They ought to be ashamed. Such conduct is sinful. They should hate the sins that make them mourn, and drive them from their breast. The religious status of a people is a pretty good index of their civilization. If there are idiosyncrasies in our religious life--in short, if we are not up to the standard--we will be judged accordingly. Though my voice be as one crying in the wilderness, I wish to suggest this religious slogan: "Down with the mourning preacher!"

OUR GREATEST DRAWBACK.

BY E. E. BROCK, NEW YORK, N. Y.

I doubt if there has ever been an enterprise started by Afro-Americans, no matter how lofty the aim or however honest the intentions, that there were not a few envious souls that stood ready to cry it down. This is to-day the greatest barrier to Afro-American success and the chief reason why we are no further advanced in commercial spheres than we are. In this advanced age of civilization and enlightenment such a state of affairs is sadly to be deplored, for we find that not only among the illiterate cla.s.s does this exist, but in a greater and more marked degree by those who claim superior intelligence and are looked upon as leaders and shining lights of the race. If one attempts to gain a certain goal, there always stands another ready to pull him back. "You must and shall not get above me"

seems to be their fixed motto. Ah! brothers and sisters, you have much yet to learn. If you cannot help another up the hill, you certainly will gain nothing by trying to pull him back. Enviousness is a demon and a monster, and until you learn to live in union and love thy neighbor as thyself, you may never hope to win the respect and esteem of other races.

THE RACE PROBLEM.