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 A Declaration of Principles 
 
 By Representative Negroes of North Carolina 
 Raleigh, September 26, 1919 
 
 Issued from the Office of 
 
 SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 
 
 RALEIGH, N. C. 
 
The bequest o? 
 
 Daniel Murray, 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 1925. 
 
 a 
 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 I wisli to give my endorsement to the declaration of principles adopted 
 by representative Negroes in Conference in Raleigh, September 26, 
 1919. This is a serious as well as patriotic attempt of the Negroes to 
 make the social background of the school safe for the children of both 
 races, in order that progress and well-being may be promoted. Super- 
 intendents and teachers should not only read this document, which has 
 heen characterized by the leading newspapers of the State as the most 
 important declaration of the day, but they should give as wide publicity 
 as possible to it. Moreover, all school officials of both races should at 
 all times seek to make right and justice prevail among all classes of 
 people. If this is done, we shall have an unprecedented era of good 
 feeling. Educational progress will be promoted, great economic pros- 
 perity will result, and there will be no strife in North Carolina. This 
 platform, therefore, that the Negroes have adopted is an attempt on 
 their part to make right and justice prevail. It should become an edu- 
 cational platform for all teachers in A^orth Carolina. 
 
 State Superintendent Public Instruction. 
 
Why a Convention of Negroes Was Called 
 
 On September 15, 1919, Dr. E. C. Brooks, State Superintendent of 
 Public Instruction, wrote the following letter to Dr. James E. Sbepard, 
 of Durham, President of the State Teachers' Association of the Negro 
 
 race : 
 
 September 15, 1919. 
 Dk. James E. Shepakd, 
 
 DurJium, N. C. 
 
 Dear Sir : — It is my desire to call a meeting in Raleigh of the Executive 
 Committee of the State Teachers' Associatiou for Friday, September 26th, if 
 this date is suitable to the members and you approve of it. 
 
 We are planning many improvements in teacher training, high school in- 
 struction, erection of schoolhouses. and other educational needs for the colored 
 people. Our summer's work has given us a new direction. You are acquainted 
 with the summer school work and its far-reaching effect. 
 
 While we are discussing these very important things, it is my judgment that 
 we should discuss, also, ways and means by which we may eliminate much 
 of the distrust that seems to be in evidence here and there in our State. I 
 think it would be wise for you and your committee to be considering some 
 platform, that both the white and the colored people might stand on, that 
 would be of mutual interest to all concerned. We can make this one of the 
 most important meetings to be held in the State, and it can be so far-reaching 
 as to give a new direction to both the white and the colored people so far as 
 their relationship is concerned. 
 
 With your permission, I should like to invite to this meeting members of 
 your race who are not members of the Executive Committee, in order that 
 we may have their counsel at this time. 
 
 If you approve of this meeting, write me at once, and let me know whether 
 the date is satisfactory. I cannot meet with you the next week, nor the week 
 following. 
 
 Will you suggest other members of your race to invite to this meeting? I 
 think it would be proper for you to send them a personal invitation. If you 
 will let me have a list of the members of the Executive Committee and the 
 others whom you desire to invite, I shall take pleasure in sending each a per- 
 sonal letter. Very truly yours, 
 
 E. C. Brooks, 
 State Superintendent Puhlic Instruction. 
 
 On September 16th Dr. Shepard replied as follows : 
 
 Durham, N. C, September 16, 1919. 
 Dr. E. C. BrooivS, 
 
 Superintendent PuMic Instruction. 
 Raleigh, N. C. 
 
 Dear Dr. Brooks : — I received with the greatest delight your very kind 
 letter of September 15th, in which you suggest that the Executive Committee 
 of the North Cai'olina State Teachers' Association, together with any other 
 men of influence, be called to meet with you in conference September 26th. 
 
 I am very glad indeed that you have taken a lead in this matter. I knew 
 something ought to be done, and I attach herewith copy of letter which I 
 addressed to all of the Southern Governors, looking forward to a conference 
 as you have outlined so as to take in the whole South. I can readily see, 
 however, that such a conference ought to start on a smaller scale. The con- 
 ference proposed by you will be fraught with great blessings to all concerned, 
 and I thank you for suggesting it. 
 
I am calling the Executive Committee to meet in your office September 26tli 
 at 11 o'clock to confer with you along general lines for the advancement of 
 the race. I am also inviting to meet with this conference the gentlemen whose 
 names are attached to a separate sheet. I will thank you to send a personal 
 letter to the persons named. 
 
 Assuring you of my hearty cooperation along any line of endeavor for the 
 uplift of my people and for the progress of the State, I am, with sentiments 
 of the warmest personal esteem and respect, Yours sincerely, 
 
 James E. Shepabd. 
 
 Immediately after tlie receipt of this reply Dr. Brooks sent the follow- 
 ing circular letter to about sixty ]!^egroes in l^orth Carolina. 
 
 September 20, 1919. 
 
 Dear Sir : — After a communication with Dr. James E. Shepard, of Durham, 
 it was thought advisable to hold a meeting of the Executive Committee of 
 the North Carolina Teachers' Association in my office, Friday, September 
 26th, at 11 o'clock. 
 
 On my return to the city today I found a letter from Dr. Shepard stating 
 that he had extended an invitation to this committee and to other prominent 
 leaders of the colored race. I am, therefore, extending to you a personal 
 invitation to attend this conference. 
 
 Our new educational program calls for the wisest leadership possible, and 
 I am very anxious to secure the cooperation of the leaders of education of the 
 colored race, and I feel sure that I can rely upon them to take the lead in 
 North Carolina. If we are positive in our program and forward-looking in 
 our work we shov;ld make for progress and for human betterment. This is 
 my purpose in asking for this conference. Let me ask you to attend if 
 possible. Very truly yours. 
 
 E. C. Brooks, 
 State Superintendent PuMic Instruction. 
 
 In response to this invitation, many who were unable to attend ex- 
 pressed their regret, saying they were in full accord with the purposes 
 of the meeting, but that the invitation reached them too late to make 
 arrangements to be present, and they wished to be recorded as favoring 
 such a meeting. 
 
 The following were present and participated in the meeting: 
 
 Prof. A. J. Griffin, Principal High Point Normal and Industrial School. 
 
 Rev. Chas. H. Williamson, Principal Shiloh Institute, Warrenton. 
 
 Rev. A. B. Vincent, Editor of the Searchlight, Raleigh. 
 
 Prof. W. A. Patillo, Principal Princeville Graded School,, Tarboro. 
 
 Mr. T. L. McCoy, Representative Negro Publications, Raleigh. 
 
 Prof. Theo. F. Williams, Teacher, Raleigh. 
 
 Mrs. Florence C. Williams, State Director for Negroes, Bureau of Tubercu- 
 losis, Raleigh. 
 
 Dr. C. G. O'Kelly, Vice-President National Training School. Durham. 
 
 Dr. C. S. Brown, Principal Waters Institute. Winton. 
 
 Dr. P. W. Moore, Principal State Normal School, Elizabeth City. 
 
 Charles R. Frazier, Dean Shaw University, Raleigh. 
 
 Prof. W. G. Pearson, Principal Whitted High School, Durham. 
 
 Mrs. Annie W. Holland, State Supervisor Negro Rural Schools, Raleigh, 
 N. C. 
 
 Dr. J. E. Shepard, President National Training School, Durham. 
 
 Dr. E. E. Smith, Principal State Normal School, Fayetteville. 
 
 Mr. C. C. Spaulding, General Manager North Carolina Mutual Life Insur- 
 ance Company, Durham. 
 
 Prof. C. M. Epps, Principal Graded School, Greenville. 
 
 Prof. G. A. Edwards, President Kittrell College, Kittrell. 
 
 6 
 
Dr. J. A. Cotton, Principal Henderson Normal Institute, Henderson. 
 
 Dr. A. W. Pegues, Secretary Lott-Carey Foreign Mission Convention, 
 Raleigh. 
 
 Dr. G. C. Shaw, Principal Mary Potter School, Oxford. 
 
 Prof. J. A. McRae, Principal Graded School, Reidsville. 
 
 Dr. H. L. McCrorey, President Biddle University, Charlotte. 
 
 Dr. J. B. Dudley, President A. and T. College, Greensboro. 
 
 Dr. S. G. Atkins, Principal State Normal School, Winston-Salem. 
 
 Prof. C. H. Moore, Roseuwald Agent School House Buildings, Greens- 
 boro, N. C. 
 
 Col. Jas. H. Young, Dist. Grand Master United Order of Odd Fellows, 
 Raleigh. 
 
 Rev. H. C. Mabry, Minister and Teacher, Raleigh. 
 
 Mr. A. J. Rogers, Dist. Supt. North Car. Mutual Life Insurance Company, 
 Raleigh. 
 
 Rev. C. Dillard, Principal Goldsboro High School, Goldsboro. 
 
 Rev. T. S. Evans, Custodian Raleigh Postoffice, Raleigh. 
 
 Prof. H. S. Christmas, Teacher, Raleigh. 
 
 Mr. Berry O'Kelly, Merchant, Method. 
 
 Prof. J. H. Bias, Principal Berry O'Kelly Training School, Method. 
 
 Hon. H. P. Cheatham, Supt. Colored Orphanage, Oxford. 
 
 Prof. Chas. H. Boyer, Professor of Mathematics, St. Augustine School, 
 Raleigh. 
 
 Prof. R. E. Malone, A. and T. College, Greensboro. 
 
 Mr. Wm. Quinu, Raleigh. 
 
 Representatives of the Department of Education were as follows : 
 
 Dr. E. C. Brooks, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 
 
 Prof. N. C. Newbold, Supervisor Negro Rural Schools. 
 
THE CONVENTION 
 
 The convention was held in the Hall of the House of Eepresentative* 
 at 11 o'clock, and was called to order by Dr. E. C. Brooks, State Super- 
 intendent of Public Instruction, who presided throughout the conference. 
 Dean 0. R. Frazier, of Shaw University, was elected secretary. 
 
 In stating the purpose of this meeting. Dr. Brooks declared that in 
 attempting to inaugurate a broad educational policy for both races, he 
 was confronted by serious difficulties. In some instances, those who had 
 been the champions of justice for the negroes in the past were growing 
 somewhat suspicious of the negroes' aims and purposes, and were at a 
 loss to know what is right and just in many things affecting the races. 
 He declared there never was a time when the leaders of both races were 
 more ready to see that right shall prevail and that all classes of people 
 shall have a fair opportunity than at the present time. But the unrest 
 among both races and among all classes of people, the appearance of 
 race friction resulting in bloodshed, and the frequency of rumors that 
 racial strife is inevitable, presented serious difficulties to the Department 
 of Education, and that it would be unable to carry out very broad plans 
 unless there can be some common ground of safety upon which the 
 leaders of both races may stand. Therefore, he declared, it seemed 
 desirable that such a representative body of negroes should meet in 
 executive session with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction 
 and discuss fully the present situation. Moreover, it seemed desirable 
 that the ISTegroes should adopt a platform of principles upon which they 
 will stand and give it as wide publicity as possible. 
 
 It was agreed at the beginning of the conference that no publicity 
 would be made of the discussions and that no principles would be given 
 to the public that did not meet with the entire endorsement of every 
 representative present. The purpose was to secure a platform on which 
 all could stand and not to emphasize the differences that are found here 
 and there even among the leading ISTegroes themselves. Therefore, what 
 is given below is the result of a free discussion entered into by all the 
 Negroes present and unanimously adopted by the conference, that all 
 men may know exactly how these representatives of the I^egro race stand 
 on some very important matters affecting both races. 
 
 Throughout the conference, which was in session the greater part of 
 the day, and which was conducted throughout with perfect harmony, 
 the members showed an earnest desire to reach a stand that will be con- 
 vincing to all, that doubts may be banished, that strife may cease, and 
 that good-will may prevail. 
 
 C. E.. Fraziek, 
 Secretary of the Conference. 
 
Declaration of Principles 
 
 (Adopted unanimously by the Conference) 
 
 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 
 
 The Negroes of North Carolina were never in a better state of prosperity. 
 They are buying farms and homes ; they are making money, and reaching a 
 >!tage of prosperity never before enjoyed. There never was a time in North 
 <jarolina when so many of the Negroes owned their own homes, or were more 
 independent, or had better opportunities for contented living. A large ma- 
 jority have no troubles, and, if the agitators will only let them alone, they 
 <'an secure a fair opportunity to work out their own destinies. The Negroes 
 therefore, should resent any interference from any class of people who seek 
 to stir them to excitement or urge them to deeds of violence. Since prosperity 
 is now surely coming, it is little short of a tragedy for the agitator to come 
 among them and make them suspicious of the white people of the State, or 
 the white people suspicious of the Negro's aims and purposes. Wherever this 
 is done, the chances of domestic peace and prosperity are destroyed. 
 
 One of the disturbing factors, therefore, of the Negroes is the labor agi- 
 tator who comes among them, recounts the iniquities of the white man In 
 order that he may entice the Negroes to move north or west by holding up 
 .shining prospects of wealth and social advantages. How many times has the 
 Negro been misled and his prosperous condition been destroyed by these 
 agents. Even race riots have been the results. Any Negro that can find better 
 opportunities anywhere than are provided in the South should be encouraged 
 to go where he can best succeed ; but wholesale migrations are in the interest 
 of the labor agitator and the employers of labor, and not in the interest of the 
 Negroes themselves, and Negroes everywhere should have this fact impressed 
 upon them. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES 
 
 There never was a time in North Carolina when the State was so ready 
 to give adequate educational opportunities to the Negroes. Until the new 
 constitutional amendment was adopted in 1918, providing for more funds, it 
 was impossible to provide public school advantages for all the children. The 
 Negro children, for the most part, had very poor schools, in very poor build- 
 ings, and very poor teachers. The funds were not sufficient. Under the new 
 plan outlined by the State Department of Education, county teacher-training 
 schools have been inaugurated to improve the teachers, better salaries are 
 guaranteed, better houses are in course of construction, the normal schools 
 for the Negro race are being enlarged and improved, better health regulations 
 are being enforced, and high schools are being established. 
 
 There never was a time when the Negro had more cause to take hope than 
 now and when the State program contained so much for Negro children. One 
 town is planning to spend at least $100,000 for buildings for the Negroes alone : 
 another is voting a special bond issue for Negro children. In rural districts 
 many new buildings, costing from one thousand to ten thousand dollars, pro- 
 viding for broader training, are already in course of construction. Moreover, 
 well trained Negro supervisors are being employed to give better supervision 
 to the rural schools. 
 
 With such prospects for improving our educational conditions, Incendiary 
 articles, false chai-ges, and this continual harping on the injustices of the 
 white man to the Negro, is doing great harm, and if the agitator really 
 wishes to help the Negro, he could throw the emphasis on what the white 
 race is really trying to do for the Negroes, and make a story that would 
 t'hange the whole thought about racial relationship. To throw the emphasis 
 on this side would encourage both races to do more. There are, of course, 
 injustices, some of which will continue probably as long as human nature is 
 imperfect, but so long as the only comments are those of abuse, when can we 
 
 9 
 
ever expect to have justice done and peace and harmony between the races? 
 The Negro in the cities and towns needs playgrounds for his children, places 
 of amusement and entertainment for the young; and in the rural districts, 
 community centers for the discussion of the needs of the community and the 
 welfare of the Negroes. All these needs can be supplied for they are a part 
 of the larger educational plans of the State. Great reforms are slow and it 
 will take time and patience under the best possible conditions to work out 
 these reforms. But they cannot come if the Negro is led unwisely and race 
 friction increases instead of decreases. 
 
 JUSTICE IN THE COURTS 
 
 The Negro in the main receives the same justice in the courts that any 
 other receives who has few or no friends. He is not discriminated against 
 altogether because he is a Negro, but usually because he is friendless. The 
 courts are not perfect in the administration of justice and it is true the Negro 
 does not always receive justice. Perhaps some reform in our jury system 
 would make it possible to secure justice more frequently for the Negro. 
 
 Under the new juvenile court law, however, which has just gone into effect 
 in North Carolina, the superintendents of public welfare are required to keep- 
 the Negro children out of court and out of jail. They are giving daily assur- 
 ance, both by word and example, that they are ready to appoint Negro proba- 
 tion officers, whose cooperation is even now earnestly sought in this mattei*. 
 It is the friendless man and the friendless child that suffers most when he is 
 caught within the toils of the law. It should be the purpose of the Negro to 
 secure more not less friends, and whatever is done to diminish the Negro's 
 number of friends reduces his chances to receive justice in the courts. The 
 new juvenile court law will give the Negro child more friends. Moreover,, 
 it will bring about better cooperation between the whites and the Negroes in 
 their efforts to see that justice is done and that mercy is extended. 
 
 THE RIGHT TO PUBLIC UTILITIES 
 
 Much has been said for and against the segregation of the races. It has 
 been charged that the Negro as soon as he accumulates wealth prefers to leave 
 the Negro district and buy property in a more prosperous white district. 
 Where such is the case, it is not because the Negro, as a rule, prefers to- 
 associate with white people or that he is seeking to have white neighbors for 
 himself and his children, but wherever such transfer of residence is made 
 it is because, as a rule, it is impossible for him to have good streets, to secure 
 sewer, lights, and the other public utilities necessary to health and well-being 
 that his money can buy, if he continues to live within the Negro district. 
 Therefore it is necessary for him to move in order to secure these advantages. 
 
 The poorer people of a town or district, as a rule, live in the suburbs or 
 in segregated areas,, where the cost of living, comparatively speaking, is not 
 so great. The poorer white people of our towns and cities suffer much the 
 same inconveniences that the Negroes suffer, but when the white man accumu- 
 lates wealth he can sell out and move up into a district that is better sup- 
 plied with public utilities. The Negro cannot do this without moving into a 
 white district. We do not believe the Negro is discriminated against solel.v 
 because he is a Negro but because he lives in an area of poverty, and the 
 Negro should bear this in mind. City officials should be urged to bear in 
 mind also that the health of the better classes of the white people cannot be 
 safe so long as the health and well-being of the Negro are neglected. It is 
 essential, therefore, that town and city officials give greater consideration to 
 this fact. When this is done, the Negro will be able to have more sanitary 
 surroundings and better streets without having to sell out and move into a 
 white district. Public officials are earnestly appealed to, to see that justice 
 is done in this respect. The wrong motive is too often given for the acts of 
 the Negro who attempts to buy from the public accommodations equal to 
 those that the white man can buy for the same money. And this applies to 
 the use of all public conveyances. Equal accommodations in all public con- 
 veyances are guaranteed by law, and if our officials will see to it that this 
 guarantee is met in good faith, much of the misunderstandings as well as 
 much of the discontent will disappear. 
 
 10 
 
INTERMINGLING OF THE RACES ON TERMS OF SOCIAL EQUALITY 
 
 Any individual or society in or out of the State tliat advocates tlie inter- 
 mingling of tlie races on terms of social equality and intermarriage of the 
 races, is doing great harm to the Negro, for wherever this doctrine finds 
 lodgment it stirs race prejudice in the South and threatens the well-being of 
 both races. The Negroes as a race in North Carolina are not thinking of 
 intermarriage nor of the intermingling of the races on terms of social equality, 
 and any one who holds to these doctrines and advocates them in the South is 
 sowing discord that will cause inter-racial trouble of a grave nature. The 
 Negro's opportunities in North Carolina are broader today than ever before 
 in the history of his race, and it is possible for both races to live together 
 and each to have its own social life and both be happy and prosperous, if the 
 agitator would only recognize what is really essential to the well-being of 
 l>oth races and spread that doctrine in season and out of season. 
 
 LYNCHING AND ITS CAUSES 
 
 Good people of both races deplore and continually denounce mob violence. 
 But the question for all classes of people to consider is. How can we remove 
 the cause? Sufficient emphasis has not been placed at this point, for when 
 the cause is removed, mob violence will disappear. 
 
 It is unquestionably true that innocent men have been lynched and that 
 lynching for any crime is an evil. But it is also true that innocent women 
 have been outraged, and those who have contributed to this crime are the 
 lowest specimen of either race. Patriotic Negroes in every section of the 
 State are ready to unite with patriotic white men,, and society should do all 
 in its power to remove the cause and put an end to these crimes. The safety 
 of both white and colored women should be protected, and patriotic Negroes 
 are ready to unite with any group of patriotic white men to protect the 
 women of both races and remove this terror that hangs over the South. 
 
 Statistics show, however, that rape is not the chief cause of lynching nor 
 is the Negro the only victim, and thoughtful people of both races recognize 
 keenly the dangers that result from mob violence of any kind. It lets loose 
 the brute passions of both races, and no man is safe when mob law abounds. 
 Therefore both races should preach, in season and out of season, the need of 
 greater respect for law and order, for the sanctity of the home, the purity 
 of the women, and the preservation of peace and justice among all classes 
 of people. 
 
 AN APPEAL TO FORCE 
 
 Whenever injustice appears, there is entirely too much said by self-appointed 
 leaders outside and inside the State about an appeal to force. Those who 
 intimate that such an appeal will in any way be beneficial are the most dan- 
 gerous enemies to all. In the first place, those advocating it are generally 
 themselves safe from any of its dangerous consequences. 
 
 An appeal to force is encouraging mob law. Both races have had much to 
 say against mob law, and whoever advocates an appeal to force is encouraging 
 the very thing that society should most fear. The only hope of the Negro is in 
 cooperation and in building mutual confidence and racial integrity, not in 
 strife. It is well known that whenever a clash between the races has occurred 
 in the past the Negro is the greatest sufferer. He is the one to whom least 
 mercy is shown. Moreover, it gives excuse to every vicious man to use force 
 whenever he becomes dissatisfied with any condition that surrounds him. 
 Thoughtful white men should know that if this is encouraged it will not only 
 carry untold suffering to the Negro, but it will extend from one set of white 
 people to another. It is also well known by thoughtful people that whenever 
 race riots have occurred race lines are drawn and the Negro is the greatest 
 sufferer. Therefore every patriotic citizen should seek it as his duty to 
 silence, if possible, any man or woman who advocates an appeal to force to 
 secure justice. 
 
 11 
 
HOW TO INCREASE GOOD WILL 
 
 Good will may be increased if the Negro leaders will adopt a platform 
 that is positive and forward-looking, and one that the white man may stand 
 on also. Ministers should be urged to give all the time possible to a con- 
 structive program for the Negro race. Negro editors should give more space 
 to magnifying the Negro's opportunities and benefits and less to supposed 
 grievances. Agitation is paralyzing the efforts of patriotic men and women 
 of both races. A vicious idea can be destroyed by supplanting it with a good 
 idea,, and the Negro should keep the good uppermost — ^what they have achieved, 
 what they are capable of achieving, what their opportunities are. The times 
 demand that our wisest, most patriotic and safest leaders be followed, and 
 those who would make the Negro dissatisfied by thoughtless and intemperate 
 remarks should be relegated to the rear. The Negro's hope of continued 
 prosperity lies in better schools, better health regulations, better opportunities 
 to make an honest living, more justice in the courts, more wholesome places 
 of recreation and amusement in our towns and cities, more consideration from 
 the town and city and State officials as to the enjoyment of public utilities ; 
 and all these advantages may be secured by appealing to right and justice 
 before the proper authorities and by building up a wider friendship with 
 right-thinking men of both races. To this end the newspapers of the State 
 should be urged to emphasize more and more the better things for which the 
 Negro stands, how he is trying to do right and prosper along legitimate lines 
 and less and less to his defects for which he is so often abused and ridiculed. 
 Shame and ridicule and gruesome stories of revolting crimes so often have 
 the wrong effect, and instead of increasing good will frequently arouse the 
 baser tendencies. The editors of the State and nation are the most powerful 
 agencies for or against promoting good will, and they are urged to so edit 
 news affecting race relations that while it conveys the truth, it will also have 
 a tendency to increase good will among all classes of people. The Negro 
 should also seek to increase good will in every way possible among all classes 
 of people. He should ask for nothing simply because he is a Negro, but 
 because he is a citizen of the State. And he should use only the means that 
 every other law-abiding patriotic citizen uses to reach his aims. 
 
 12 
 
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