CHAPTER I.
The Editor.
"I will not retract! No! Not a single sentence! I have told the truth.This woman not satisfied with the South's bloody record since the war,is clamoring and whining like a she wolf for more human sacrifices, andan increased flow of human blood. She is unmercifully pounding ahelpless and defenseless people. The article was issued in defense ofthe defenseless. It is right against wrong; truth against error, and itmust stand even if the one who uttered it is annihilated; it muststand!"
"But you must remember my dear man, that the South is no place to speakplainly upon race matters. You have written the truth, but its a truththat the white people of the South cannot and will not stand. Now theleading whites are much incensed over this article of yours which theyinterpret as an intent to slander white women, and I am sent to say toyou that they demand that you retract or leave the city."
"I will do neither! The truth has been said, a slanderer rebuked. Godhelp me, I will not go back on that truth."
"Well, I leave you; I've done my duty. Good morning."
It is often said that there is nothing so indispensible as thenewspaper. It is the moulder of public opinion; the medium of freespeech; the promoter and stimulator of business; the prophet, thepreacher, swaying the multitudes and carrying them like the whirlwindinto the right or wrong path. To millions its the Bible, the ApostlesCreed. Their opinion of God, of religion, of immortality is shaped bywhat the newspaper has to say upon such subjects. Glowing headlines inthe newspapers have kindled the flames of Anarchy, and started men uponthe path of destruction like wolves stimulated and brutalized by thescent of blood, to pause only when irrepairable evil hath beenwrought.--"When new widows howl and new orphans cry." What a power forevil is the newspaper! The newspaper arrayed on the side of the righthurls its mighty battering-ram against gigantic walls of oppresion untilthey fall; takes up the cause of the bondman, echoes his wails and theclanking of his chains until the nation is aroused, and men are marchingshoulder to shoulder on to the conflict for the right. What a power forgood is the newspaper! I once heard a great editor say that "althoughnewspaper work was hard and laborious, requiring a great store ofintellectual strength it was nevertheless a fascinating work." But inthe South where freedom of speech is limited to a class _grit andbackbone_ outweigh intellectual ability and are far more requisite. Whenwe consider the fact that many white newspaper men have "licked thedust" in the Southland because they dared to emerge from the trend ofpopular thought and opinion, the Spartan who without a tremor held hishand into the flames until it had burned away was not more a subject ofsupreme admiration than the little Octoroon editor of the _WilmingtonRecord_ whose brave utterances begin this chapter.
The great newspapers of today are too engrossed in weightier matters toconcern themselves to any extent with things that promote directly theinterests of the ten million black Americans. That is largely the causeof the existence of the Negro editors. The Negro, like the white man,likes to read something good of himself; likes to see his picture in thepaper; likes to read of the social and business affairs of his people;likes to see the bright and sunnyside of his character portrayed; so heoften turns from the great journals (who are if saying anything at allconcerning him, worrying over the "Negro Problem" (?)) to look at thebright side presented by the Negro newspaper. A few days ago whileworried and disconsolate over the aspersions heaped upon a defenselesspeople that floated upon the feotid air from the Alabama Conference,_The New York Age_ came to me, a ray of light in a dungeon of grossdarkness.
Prior to the year 1892 there had been no genuine zeal among coloredpeople to establish a colored newspaper in Wilmington. _The Record_ waslaunched at about that time: but not until taken in hand by the famousA. L. Manly did it amount to very much as a news medium. Under themanagement of this enterprising little man _The Record_ forged ahead,and at the time of its suspension was the only Negro daily, perhaps, inthe country. It was a strong champion of the cause of Wilmington'scolored citizens. Improvements in the section of the city owned by blackpeople were asked for, and the request granted. Good roads were secured,bicycle paths made, etc. The greatest deed achieved however, was theexposure by _The Record_ of the very unsanitary condition of the coloredwards in the city hospital. _The Record_ made such a glowing picture ofthe state of affairs, that the Board of County Commissioners werecompelled to investigate and take action, which resulted in the puttingof the old hospital in habitable shape. This, though a good work, did notenhance the Editor's popularity with the whites who thought him too_high strung, bold and saucy_. And the colored people who appreciatedhis pluck felt a little shaky over his many tilts with editors of thewhite papers. The brave little man did not last very long however--theend came apace: Sitting in his office one evening in August reading aNew York paper, his eyes fell upon a clipping from a Georgia paper fromthe pen of a famous Georgia white woman, whose loud cries for the livesof Negro rapists had been so very widely read and commented upon duringthe past year. This particular article referred to the exposure of andthe protection of white girls in the isolated districts of the Southfrom lustful brutes. "Narrow-souled fool!" exclaimed the editor,throwing the paper upon the floor; "I wonder does she ever think of theNegro girls in isolated districts of the South exposed to lustfulwhites! Does she think of those poor creatures shorn of all protectionby the men of her race! I guess her soul is too small to be generous alittle bit.--'White girls in isolated districts exposed to lustful Negrobrutes.' Colored girls in isolated districts exposed to lustful whitebrutes; what's the difference? Does the Negro's ruined home amount tonought? Can man sin against his neighbor without suffering itsconsequences? 'Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!' I'llthrow a broadside at that old women, so help me God."
The editor took up his pen and wrote the retort which shook the oldState from mountain to sea, and which enhanced the chances of the whitesupremacy advocates who were then planning for an uprising in November."_Punish sin because it is sin_," concluded the editor, "_and notbecause the one who commits it is black._" The article was commentedupon by the press throughout the State, and "the affrontery of theNegro" in assailing white women bitterly discussed. _The Record_advanced from five to twenty-five cents a copy, so anxious was every oneto see what the Negro had said to call for such ado. Threatening lettersbegan to come in to the editor's office. "Leave on pain of death." "Stopthe publishing of that of paper." "Apologize for that slander," etc. Butthe editor refused to apologize, "Suspend or quit." A meeting ofcitizens was called, and a colored man sent to advise the editor toretract, but he was obdurate. Immediately after the departure of thecolored advocate, the owner of the building came in and told the editorthat he was compelled to ask him to move out. He looked around theoffice so full of pleasant recollections. The face of "LittleShunshine," once the writer of the social column whose rolicksomedisposition had robbed labor of its irksomeness in the work-room, beamedupon him from far over the seas, and rendered the quitting of the oldhome a much harder thing to do. But go he must. Colored friends hearingof his predicament rallied to his aid, and offered him at least atemporary asylum in one of their buildings. So the office of _TheRecord_ was moved into Seventh Street. Excitement soon abated however,and _The Record_ resumed its work. Those who are inclined to blame theeditor of _The Wilmington Record_ for the massacre of 1898 must rememberthat the article was written in August, and the massacre occurred inNovember; and that the editor of that paper did not leave Wilmingtonuntil a few days before the massacre, upon the urgent advice of friends.The whites of Wilmington had need to be afraid of the Negroes, and didnot attempt to do violence until sufficiently reinforced from theoutside, and the black citizens had been cut off from all means ofdefense. Editor Manley's reply to the Georgia woman was not the cause ofthe upheaval, but it was an excellent pretext when the election cameon.