Should Negroes Follow Orders and Voluntarily Stop Voting? 1900

"Negro In the Background," from the Watauga Democrat, May 3, 1900.

 

In Henderson, a city of 5,000 inhabitants, at the Republican primary held on Saturday not a single white man was present and all the delegates selected were negroes.

In Warren at the county convention the attendance was nearly 100 and not a single white man was present. The negroes, however, in response to orders, elected two white men as delegates to the state convention.

In Lenoir county of 90 present, 70 were negroes.

In Guilford the Negroes obeyed orders and not one was present as delegate or alternate.

In Jones county three-fourths of the delegates were negroes, but the negroes were told to take a back seat and white men were elected to the State convention.

These are a few sample Republican conventions. The revenue officers, who absolutely run the Republican party in North Carolina, have had their doodles at work for more than a month travelling about the state telling the negroes that they must take a back seat in the state convention this year in order to defeat the amendment. "If you are prominent in the convention this year," is the argument used, "you will never get a chance to vote again. Take a back seat this year and after we get in we will let you sit at the first table." That argument has had its effect in most counties, and the negro is consenting to disfranchisement in the state convention  this year in order to help defeat the amendment and get pie next year.

But the white folks are "on to" their scheme!