Black Patience

To get first-hand information on the land of their origin from, a man who knows their distant cousins, many New York Negroes went last week to hear a speech by General Jan Christiaan Smuts, onetime Boer leader and South African Premier. They heard him describe native Africans as dignified, noble, contented with their socialistic tribal life; heard him decry attempts to foist upon them a white civilization that would make them only "inferior Europeans." Suddenly the audience sat up straight and winced. It had heard General Smuts say:

"The voice of Africa, singing contentment amid suffering and tragedy--I remember tales of travelers who had seen hundreds of black men chained together, singing as they were marched to the sea. They are docile animals. The Negroes are, next to the ass, the most patient of all animals."

Dr. Robert Russa Moton, grey-wooled Negro principal of Tuskegee Institute, was sitting on the stage close to General Smuts. Gravely he got to his feet as the speaker finished and raised his deep voice:

"I know I oughtn't to say this and I know my wife would tell me not to. I wish I did have patience, but I haven't. But what I want to ask General Smuts is what he meant when he associated the Negro with the jackass--I mean the ass --what he meant when he called us 'docile animals.' . . . I'm sure no insult was meant but when he used those words, it hurt. It cut like a two-edged sword through the heart of every Negro and we Negroes would leave this hall with a bad taste in our mouth if no explanation was forthcoming."

There was an awkward pause. The meeting's chairman began to say something. Then General Smuts replied:

"I used those words in a spirit of admiration. I have all respect for the patience of the Negro race. I think it is something we white people might learn from Negroes. We'd be much happier if we did."

Dr. Moton sat down, apparently satisfied with the explanation. But other Negroes throughout the land were not satisfied. Dr. William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, editor of The Crisis, challenged General Smuts to a debate on black and white relations in Africa. Field Secretary William Pickens of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People condemned the General's "amazing philosophy," likened his logic to that of a Mississippi politician discussing U. S. Negro privileges in Harlem.

Said the challenged General: "I shall ignore it all. Life is too short."

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