THE CASTE SYSTEM AND
THE CIVIL SERVICE
KELLY MILLER
HOWARD UNIVERSITY
WASHINGTON, D C
Price 10 cents
SEGREGATION
The Caste System and The Civil Service
By KELLY MILLER
THE ETERNAL NEGRO QUESTION.
The eternal Negro question has been a disturbing element
in public and political discussion from the foundation of the
government down to the present hour. The public mind may-
seek temporary relief by focusing attention on economic and
material issues; the perplexed statesman may put it aside for
some more convenient season; yet ever and anon it recurs
with unabated aggravation.
Even the carnage of the war of nations entailing the most
awful toll of death that the world has ever experienced, and
which has for the past few months shunted from public con¬
sideration and discussion every other issue of national or
international interest, has not been able to relegate the Negro
question to the background.
MR. TROTTER'S INTERVIEW.
The recent interview of Mr. William Trotter, the intrepid
agitator for the rights of his race, with the President of the
United States, has served as occasion to bring this issue into
keen public consideration and discussion. For twenty years
Mr. Trotter has been the most outspoken agitator of his race,
standing out in conspicious and acrid opposition to the more
passive and pacific spirit and doctrine of Booker T. Washing¬
ton. In the intensity of his ardor he has been so violently
denunciatory and so bitterly intolerant as to alienate the sym¬
pathy and cooperation even of the radical spirits of his own
race
COURTESY OF UTTERANCE.
It is deeply to be deplored if Mr. Ti otter, carried away by
zeal for his cause, indicated any unbecoming temper or feel¬
ing in the presence of the President of the United States. The
Negro will wisely preserve becoming constraint of manner,
and carefulness and caution of utterance, even though he
labors under burdens which would cause any other element
of our population to violate accepted ceremonies of procedure
in urging their demands. The just claims of the race will
hardly be advanced by spectacular methods like those of the
suffragettes in England.
COURTESY DOES NOT INDICATE CONCESSION.
On the other hand, the American people should not be led
to suppose that the race has settled into complacent satisfac¬
tion with unjust discrimination because it fails to present its
cause in terms of spectacular and dramatic appeal. Albeit,
the Negro is long-suffering; nevertheless he suffers long. The
temper of the spokesman bears but incidently upon the cause
which he represents. Mr. Trotter headed the delegation to
protest to the President against the growing practice of seg¬
regation of the negro in the civil service of the United States.
SEGREGATION ADMITTED.
The outstanding and significant fact is that the President of
the United States, speaking ostensibly for the American people,
avowedly sanctioned the segregation of the races as the nation¬
al policy under his administration. The vital question is, does
this policy fairly represent the spirit and purpose of the
American people ? When a delegation of women waited upon
2
the President some time ago, to secure a declaration in behalf
of woman suffrage, he declared that he could not speak on
such a momentous issue until his party had spoken before
him. On the still more momentous question of establishing
the caste system in the Federal service, so far as the record
discloses, the President speaks on his own initiative, with
neither the authority of his party nor that of the American
people.
BILLS TO SEGREGATE THE RACES.
During the extra session of the present Congress, one or
more bills were introduced by Southern members with the
purpose of segregating the colored employes in the civil
service of the Federal Government, but under the guidance of
wiser and more comprehensive leadership, such resolutions
were relegated to the pigeonhole of Congressional oblivion.
Should such propositions be enacted into law or be allowed
to crystallize into custom and practice, it would more definitely
establish the inferior status of the negro race before the law
than any. legislative act or administrative policy since the
adoption of the Constitution. It would, indeed, seriously
affect the declared purpose and spirit of our national policy
based upon the absolute equality of citizens in all public con¬
siderations.
THE NEGRO AND WOMAN'S RIGHTS.
The question of granting women the right of suffrage af¬
fects but feebly the foundation principle of free institutions
as compared with the proposition to relegate a part of the
people to an inferior caste. One is a progressive measure in
harmony with the aim and purpose of free institutions, the
other is reactionary in the direction of darker and more benghti-
ed ages; one points towards the new freedom, the other to¬
wards old slavery; one makes for the equality of all before
the law, the other grafts the blighted branch of Hindoo caste
upon the tree of American liberty.
3
FEDERAL STATUTES FREE FROM DISCRIMINA¬
TION.
The Federal statute books, so far, are free from race or
class legislation. At the time of the founding of the Consti¬
tution, one-fifth of the population was of African blood and
servile status. But the far-seeing wisdom of the founder
omitted all racial designation or discrimination in the organic
law. A government boasting of equality as its basic principle
which should deliberately debase the weak and helpless among
its own citizens would be an anomaly in the eyes of the nations
of the earth. Amid all of the passion and tumult of the anti-
slavery conflict the Federal statutes were kept free from the
odium of race distinction. The obiter dictum of a chief justice
of the Supreme Court which injected race distinction into the
decision of that tribunal was swiftly repudiated by the moral
indignation, of the aroused conscience of the American people.
For this Government, today, to declare that the Negro shall
not enjoy identical rights and privileges with the rest of his
fellow-citizens would be equivalent to the re-enactment of the
discredited dogma of Judge Taney. Indeed, the principle in¬
volved is just as vital to the ideal of the nation today as it was
sixty years ago, although the public conscience may be less
keenly alive to it.
REVISED CONSTITUTION.
The war amendments to the Constitution reaffirmed the
original intention—that there should be no race distinction
recognized by the National Government. These great amend¬
ments written into the Constitution by the point of the bayo¬
net dipped in patriotic blood can never be erased nor their
purpose ultimately defeated. Race discrimination is men¬
tioned only to be forbidden. Mindful of the existence of these
amendments, the States that have enacted laws repugnant to
their spirit and letter, have sought circumvention by cun¬
ningly devised phrases and tricky contrivances. Every such
4
revised constitution' bears the stamp of righteous condemna¬
tion in its very phraseology.
SOCIAL SEPARATION OF THE RACES.
The policy of social separation of the races, alleged in justi¬
fication of such measures, is a matter with which the
Federal Government has nothing to do. The intimate social
and personal relationship of citizens do not fall within the
scope or purview of the Federal authority. Its concern is
with the comprehensive relations of all citizens. Matters of
minor detail are left to local and subordinate jurisdictions.
The general government cannot find warrant for such action
in the example of the several States. Discriminatory laws in
the States are sought to be justified on the ground of the rela¬
tive number of Negroes in the general population. It is al¬
leged that the greater number of Negroes are unprepared for
participation in government or for free intermingling with the
whites without seriously lowering the tone and standard of
civilization. The Federal Government has absolutely no such
basis of excuse. The negro represents at present less than
11 per cent of the total population. This ratio is growing less
with the passing of the decades. So far, no State withi so slight
a Negro element has deemed it necessary to adopt a code of
"jim crow" laws. The Federal Government leaves each citizen
socially where it finds him.
THE ATTITUDE OF THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH.
The American people for two generations have been divided
in local alignment as to the relation of the Negro race to the
Federal Government. The South has always been opposed to
the recognition of the Negro as a Federal citizen, and has
striven incessantly to reduce him to governmental nullity. It
would deny him both the right to vote and the privilege of
holding office. Every Southern Senator voted to repeal the
Fifteenth Amendment when that proposition was added as a
5
rider to important legislation during the past Congress. No
Northern Senator voted for this proposition, because it does
not represent the spirit or purpose of his State or section. The
policy of segregating the Negro in the public service is the
outgrowth of the same local spirit. The leaders of Southern
thought and opinion do not hesitate on all occasions to declare
their fixed and unalterable purpose to eliminate the Negro from
all political and governmental consideration. This policy is
well understood and accepted as the political dogma of that
section.
In the duel for national supremacy between the North and
South during the generation preceding the Civil War, the
South was hopelessly overmatched. Today it constitutes less
than one-third of the population of the United States and has
fallen far below its former rival in wealth, education and lib¬
eral ideals. This is in no sense a reflection upon the South,
which has striven heroically to measure up to the standard of
excellence set by the North, under severe and serious handicap.
But it is a plain statement of palpable fact pertinent to the
issue now under discussion. Massachusetts and Iowa, rather
than Mississippi and Georgia, embody and typify the national
spirit. The Southern attitude on the race question has be¬
come provincial, while the Northern position is national.
In all national issues it was to be hoped that the President
would follow the leadership of the more numerous, powerful
and progressive States rather than the smaller and feebler
ones involved in the meshes of unfortunate circumstances.
The President must have permitted himself to be persuaded
by the advice of the members of his household who speak for
a section rather than those who speak for the nation.
If the general government should be inclined to follow the
example of the States, it would more wisely follow the lead
of the North rather than the South.
6
THE NEGRO EFFICIENT.
The negroes at present constitute less than 5 per cent of
the Federal employes. There is no discernible indication of
an increase in this ratio. For forty years the Negro has en¬
tered the civil service of the Government on the basis of his
merit. The fact that he retains his hold shows that his work
is satisfactory.
SEGREGATION NOT DUE TO FRICTION.
It is not claimed that the race has, up to the present time,
been exempt from prejudice or discrimination in the public
service. Neither is it fair to charge that the present adminis¬
tration is the author and finisher of segregation. But this is
the first time that the race as a whole has been humiliated by
the threat that the iniquitous' principle would be enacted into
legislation' and become a fixed policy of the Government. I
served in the civil service of the Government under a Demo¬
cratic administration; the colored employes were then rela¬
tively more numerous than they are today. At that time no
such law was deemed desirable, or even dreamed of. The
Negro since that time has made great progress both in the
cultural and the substantial basis of respectability. During
all of these years the public service has suffered no detriment,
nor his fellow-employes any reasonable hardship, by reason
of his presence. If there have been cases of individual impro¬
priety these should be dealt with on the basis of individual
desert. The segregation of the races is as unnecessary as a
practical expedient as it is subversive of the spirit of free
institutions.
SEGREGATION A POLITICAL QUESTION.
l^he President informed Mr. Trotter that segregation of the
races in the Federal service was not a political question. In
this judgment it appears that he is deeply mistaken. We are
reminded that the pro-slavery advocates declared that slavery
7
was not a political question, but purely a matter of domestic
concern. In the unfolding of events, however, slavery became
the one superlative political issue. Surely, no other political
party or spokesman of any such party competing for national
supremacy has ever taken such an attitude on this question,
and, consequently, the Negro voter will very naturally sup¬
port the men and measures who are not committed in ad¬
vance to relegating him to an inferior status under the Gov¬
ernment. Had Dr. Wilson, as candidate for the presidency,
made such declaration, he would have received very few, if any,
negro votes in 1912. Should he persist in this attitude, as re-
nominee for the presidency, he could hardly expect to receive
enthusiastic support from the colored voters of the country in
1916. So far as the Negro is concerned, this segregation
has already become an acute political issue. During the last
Congressional campaign, the "Crisis," which is the most repre¬
sentative magazine among Negroes, solicited candidates for
Congress in every district of the United States as to their
attitude upon segregation, as a means of determining how the
Negro voters in the district should be advised accordingly. But
more generally speaking, the question of segregation or the
caste system in the Federal service is likely to become a
national political issue in which the Negro will play but an
insignificant part.
AN ANALOGY.
There are many striking analogies between advocates of
segregation today and the pro-slavery propaganda of a gen¬
eration ago. As long as the pro-slavery oligarchy was satis¬
fied to keep the system within local limits, there was little or
no inclination in the North to interfere with its operation.
But when they insisted upon nationalizing slavery and invok¬
ing the aid of the Federal Government to uphold, enforce and
extend its borders, the national spirit was quickly aroused
which finally wiped out the entire system. Robert Toombs
might safely call the rolls of his slaves under his own vine and
8
fig tree in Georgia; but he must not threaten to enumerate
his lists under the shadow of the Bunker Hill monument.
From the Negro's point of view, there is a deplorable apathy
in the North towards the question of disfranchisement, jim-
crow laws, segregation, and other proscriptive regulations in
the South. It seems now that these regulations are likely to
remain undisturbed for a long time to come, if their pro¬
moters are content with their local limitation. But they will
greatly endanger their permanence, if they seek to enlist the
aid of the Federal Government in extending their sway
throughout the nation. While in the North men look with
complacent condonance upon the outrages inflicted upon the
Negro at a salutary distance it would not tolerate such a
regime enacted in its very midst. The obiter dictum of Chief
Justice Taney did as much as any other cause to emphasize
the question of slavery as a political issue. It may be that
the open avowal of the President of the United States, that
he approves the caste system in the civil service of<"the Federal
Government, will force the segregation issue to the fore in
the approaching presidential campaign. The issue will not be
between the Negro and the white man, but between the freer
vStates of the North and the less free States of the South.
3hall liberty be national and the caste system local? may
prove to be the substitute for the analagous anti-slavery
slogan. All of this reminds us of the far-seeing wisdom of
Abraham Lincoln, when he predicted that America could not
live half-slave and half-free; neither can it live today on the
basis of half-caste and half-equality. It must ultimately be
all-caste or all-equality. The conscience of the great white
citizenry of this nation must answer which.
FOR THE GOOD OF THE NEGRO.
In this interview the President allowed himself to adopt the
hoary fallacy that segregation is best for the Negro. It was
once said that slavery was best for the Negro; later we heard
that jim-crow cars were enacted especially for the benefit of
9
the Negro; and then disfranchisement was intended for his
well-being. It remains for some grim humorist to rise up and
declare that lynching is encouraged for the black man's pecu¬
liar and especial benefit. It does seem strange that the in¬
iquitous practices which are universally condemned by man¬
kind, are regarded for the best welfare of the Negro race.
SEPARATE BUT EQUAL ACCOMMODATIONS.
Separate but equal accommodations for both races is the
slogan of "jim-crow" legislation. Experience shows that this
is impracticable, as reflection would show it to be impossible.
Identity is the essence of equality, in all public functions.
Two non-interchangeable parts cannot long maintain their
original parity. If some of our sagacious statesmen should
secure the enactment of a law that there shall be different
weights and measures for the two races, but that the two yard¬
sticks shall have the same lengths and that pound weights shall
contain the same number of ounces; provided that no negro
shall be accommodated by the white man's units of weight
and measure, and vice versa, under heavy penalty of law,—in
the short process of time, human nature remaining what we
know it to be, the Negro would be receiving the lighter weight
and the shorter measure. The man who cannot protect him¬
self will become the victim in every issue where his interests
are separated from those of the community at large. If there
were two standards of coinage, of the same weight and fine¬
ness, only that the one set of coins must forever circulate
among Negroes and the other among white people, the black
man's coin would immediately depreciate in comparison. The
parity could only be maintained by free interchangeability.
The Negro has supreme confidence in the American dollar,
because he knows that the same coin that is in his pocket
today will be in the white man's pocket tomorrow. And so it
is with rights and privileges under the law. There can be no
equality of rights where identity of rights is denied.
10
THE FAR-REACHING SIGNIFICANCE OF SEGREGA¬
TION.
To the casual observer the assignment of space in a gov¬
ernment building to a handful of colored civil service em¬
ployes would seem to be a matter of trivial importance. But
closer inspection reveals a deeper significance. It is but the
thin blade of the wedge whose entrance threatens to split the
log asunder. Should the National Government adopt this
seemingly simple provision, it would thereby sanction all of
the discriminatory legislation on the statute books of the sev¬
eral States and would suggest and justify all such enactments
in the future.
THE PLIGHT OF THE NEGRO.
The present plight of the negro is a significant commentary
on the doctrine that the white race is good enough to become
the beneficent governor of the negro without his consent or
participation. There are 10,000,000 Negroes in the United
States who are rapidly progressing in intelligence and wealth
and in responsible elements of power. He has no voice in
making, administering or interpreting the laws by which he
is to be governed.
Men in the highest public place, whose positions rest upon
the basis of a Negro constituency, denounce their black con¬
stituents from the seat of public power in language not to be
found in the lexicon of decency. There is no voice answering
back. Legislation is proposed to humiliate and degrade the
Negro such as no officer of the Government would dare whisper
concerning any other element of the nation. But the Negro's
tongue is tied and his voice is hushed because of his political
nullity.
ESTIMATE OF PRESIDENT-ELECT WILSON.
The writer penned these words concerning Dr. Woodrow
Wilson, then President-elect:
"Dr. Wilson is in a fortunate position to handle the
race problem. By reason of his birth and traditions, he
11
has ready access to the sources of influence and power
in the South. He is a man of enlightened judgment,
broad human sympathies, and patriotic impulse. If his
party, in the full flush of power, will deal with this
problem in a broad national spirit; if it will not further
humiliate the black man by enacting hostile racial legis¬
lation, and by fostering hostile racial sentiment; if it
will deal sympathetically, and not despitefully, with ten
million American citizens, as an integral part in every
feature and function of the Federal Government; if Mr.
Wilson will carry out his fine declaration, to treat the
Negro with patriotic and Christian consideration and
regard—then his party may hope to win the Negro from
much of his received animosity, and attach many of
them to its permanent political fortune."
He is at present rather unwilling than willing to modify
this estimate or withdraw this prophecy. Two years of this
administration still remains. It must be confessed, however,
that the colored race is very generally disturbed over the
result of the interview with the intrepid editor of the Boston
Guardian.
12
"Out of The House of Bondage"
the Latest and Greatest Book fromj the pen of
PROF. KELLY MILLER
HOWARD UNIVERSITY
Washington, D. C.
Price $1.50 (242 pages)
PRESS COMMENTS
NORTHERN PRESS.
Boston Transcript:—"Written in a clear and decisive style, with
a comprehensive and convincing command of the subject. He neither
denounces nor condemns; he analyzes and constructs possibilities
upon the fundamental basis of human nature. No man of his race
has so sure a power of pruning the fallacies with passionless intel¬
lectual severity from the pernicious arguments of the prejudiced
demagogues."
New York Sun:—"It is an intelligent and scientific statement of
actual advance and reasonable hopes for further progress in the same
direction."
Boston Post:—"Dean Kelly Miller of Howard University is one
of the most thoughtful writers and best stylist of the Negro race."
Detroit Times:—"Kelly Miller has the soul of an artist and an
idealist. We cannot but be carried away with a splendid fervor for
our Negro brother after reading Prof. Miller's book. It is as big
as all outdoors and aims at a readjustment on the highest principles."
Portland Oregon Telegram:—"To those not versed in the Negro
question, this book would surely appeal strongly. The subject is
treated from the standpoint of one who knows what he is writ¬
ing about."
Sacramento Bee:—"Sociological students may find the volume
interesting."
Brooklyn Eagle:—"An exhaustive discussion of the Negro."
Buffalo Courier:—"Sociologists will be interested in this book
for it presents some new phases concerning the future of the American
Negro which are woithy of reading."
SOUTHERN PRESS.
New Orleans Times-Picayune:—"Those who are interested in the
study of the Negro cannot ignore this volume. With many of its
conclusions we can by no means agree, but it points in favor of a
revised judgment on certain questions connected with the position
or achievements of his race."
St. Josephs, Mo., News-Press:—"The man searches deeply into-
underlying causes."
Chattanooga, Tenn., News:—" 'Out of the House of Bondage'
is extremely entertaining. It is good to see with the other side, aJnd
this pleader makes a strong case of it."
Charlotte, N. C., Observer:—"This is a philosophic treatise."
Richmond, Va., Journal:—"His literary style and exuberant vocabu¬
lary indicate unusual learning and deep thought.'
Louisville^Ky., Times:—"Very interesting and helpful to the stu¬
dent of this vexing problem."
FOREIGN PRESS.
Geographische Ansalt, Gotha, Germany:—"These articles are popu¬
lar in the best sense of the term."
London Review of Reviews, W. T. Stead, Editor:—"The most
remarkable article of the Nineteenth Century for this month, (August,
1911) is the 'Political Plight of the Negro,' written by Prof. Kelly
Miller, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Howard University,
Washington, D. C., U. S. A. It is the most intrepid and thorough¬
going defense of the political capacity of the Negro that I have
yet seen."
Birmingham, England, Daily Mail:—"A remarkable article."
Public Opinion, of London, England, quotes the closing chapter:—<
"I see and Am Satisfied" in full, which it describes as a "Remarkable
Rhapsody."
NEGRO PRESS.
Tuskegee Student:—"Always poised in outlook, he presents an
array of facts that are both significent and real."
Southern Workman:—"No student of social conditions of America
at the present time will want to fail to see it on his shelves."
Atlantic City Advocate:—"We know of no more wholesome philan¬
thropy than the placing of a copy of 'Out of the House of Bondage'
in the hands of every American youth."
Christian Recorder:—"The book is full of hopeful common sense
and is written in easy flowing literary style which Prof. Miller ha&
developed, which makes reading both pleasant and profitable."
Crisis:—"Ought to fix his place in American literature."
Pittsburgh Courier:—"The volume constitutes a strong and uncom¬
promising appeal to the best there is in man."
Address: PROF. KELLY MILLER,
Howard University,
Washington, D. C.
"RACE ADJUSTMENT"
By PROF. KELLY MILLER
1
Price $2.00 (306 pages)
This book has been on the market for several years, and is
recognized as a standard work on the subject. There is still
a steady demand for it, which attests its permanent value as a
contribution to race literature.
An eminent author in a leading Northern university has re¬
cently secured permission to incorporate a chapter from "Race
Adjustment" in a standard work which he is preparing on so¬
ciology.
Springfield Republican:—"A strong and forceful putting of the
case for the Negro."
Dallas News:—"The author is a cultured man, a forceful and most
pleasing writer, interesting from the first sentence of the first chapter
to the close of the book.
Louisville Courier-Journal:.."One of the best written books on the
race problem."
Chicago News:—"The book is written with great ability, in English
quite free from fault, and its logic is fairly inexorable."
Cleveland Plain-Dealer:—"Professor Miller shows himself a master
of an incisive style of writing and a keen logician."
San Francisco Examiner:—"The writer's appeal should command
universal respect and the clearness of. his dispassionate reasoning
should form a moving appeal to the justice and honor of his
countrymen."
New York Evening Post:—"As admirable for its calmness and
good temper as for its thoroughness and skill."
Independent:—-"There is no book which more fully and correctly
represents the wishes and demands for equal recognition in civil and
political rights than this volume."
AGENTS WANTED EVERYWHERE
Address: PROF. KELLY MILLER,
Howard University,
Washington, D. C.
"Oath of Afro-American Youth"
By PROF. KELLY MILLER
It is suggested that this oath be made a part of the ritual in
schools, societies and young people's organizations, to be
committed to memory and recited individually or in concert
on proper occasions.
The attractive card may be signed and placed on the family
mantel, not merely as an ornament, but also as a constant
reminder of plighted fidelity to self-culture and racial ideal.
COMMENTS.
Roscoe Conkling Bruce., Supt., Colored Schools, Washington, D. C.:
"The Oath of Afro-American Youth should be learned by every
Colored youth in America. I shall have my own children commit it,
and shall hope to have it placed in the hands of every youth in the
schools under my charge."
Worcester. Mass., Gazette:—"For purity of purpose and clearness
of expression we have never seen its superior. It sums the law
and the gospel of correct living, not alone for those of African
descent, but for every one."
Boston Post:—"A beautiful production."
Charlotte Observer:—"The well ordered expression of a justified
pride of race."
Congregationalist:—"Shall not white Americans help to make it
easier to keep such a pledge and formulate one for themselves in the
same spirit?"
Price, 5c. per card.
Address: PROF. KELLY MILLER,
Howard University,
Washington, D. C.