Is Fooling Thee.”
December 1, 1900
Summary
The Planet warns “the greatest blow” a black man has received is “the unconditional imposition of the right of franchise.”
Transcription
The Richmond, Va., Times has its usual recurrent attack of Negrophobia. Awaking or asleeping the grim spectre of the brother in black is ever before it.
It has its hobby and it rides the same unmercifully. Like the quack doctor, who was noted for his ability to cure any disease provided he could throw his patient into fits; so does the Times argue its ability to cure all of the social and political ills of the human family if it can bring its readers to permit it to repeal the 15th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which amendment confers upon the citizen of color the right to vote.
It has left all of the Virginia Negroes at home and gone down into South Carolina to find one in keeping with its way of thinking.
In its issue of Nov. 23rd under the caption of “A Wise Negro,” it says:
“A distinguished jurist of Richmond city has sent us a copy of a newspaper published at Abbeville, South Carolina, called ‘The Ethiopian.’ The judge referred to says he knows the editor the paper as a highly intelligent and appreciated minister in the Presbyterian Church. He is a Negro and as the name of his paper indicated, it is a Negro’s paper. We take from the issue sent us, published in October, 1900, an article headed ‘Such a Sentiment Will Not Win,” which will he found in another column.”
So much as to the information concerning the abiding place of this particular Negro. The Times then expresses its opinion concerning two Negroes:
“The Editor of this paper, names E. W. Williams, and Booker Washington have got more sense than all the other Negroes put together who have figured in any way before the public.”
This is not saying much for all of the other Negroes of the Judson Lyons, John R. Lynch, H. P. Cheatham, Fred Douglas, B. K. Bruce, John M. Langston, A. Walters, A. Grant stripe. But then the Times like the Century Dictionary may be an authority on this subject. It continues:
“What he says in the article which we quote is full of the soundest sense, and if all of the Negroes in the South would model their conduct upon what this Negro commends to them, al appearance of race antagonism would depart, and it would be infinitely better for the Negroes.”
Of course, if the Negro would only get back to the condition which existed before the war, yield up the right of franchise and be a “nigger” in deed and in truth everything would be lovely, and if it wouldn’t the Times would stand to one side, raise its cynical nose in the air and exclaim, “Well, I thought it would.” It patronizingly says:
….
It has its hobby and it rides the same unmercifully. Like the quack doctor, who was noted for his ability to cure any disease provided he could throw his patient into fits; so does the Times argue its ability to cure all of the social and political ills of the human family if it can bring its readers to permit it to repeal the 15th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which amendment confers upon the citizen of color the right to vote.
It has left all of the Virginia Negroes at home and gone down into South Carolina to find one in keeping with its way of thinking.
In its issue of Nov. 23rd under the caption of “A Wise Negro,” it says:
“A distinguished jurist of Richmond city has sent us a copy of a newspaper published at Abbeville, South Carolina, called ‘The Ethiopian.’ The judge referred to says he knows the editor the paper as a highly intelligent and appreciated minister in the Presbyterian Church. He is a Negro and as the name of his paper indicated, it is a Negro’s paper. We take from the issue sent us, published in October, 1900, an article headed ‘Such a Sentiment Will Not Win,” which will he found in another column.”
So much as to the information concerning the abiding place of this particular Negro. The Times then expresses its opinion concerning two Negroes:
“The Editor of this paper, names E. W. Williams, and Booker Washington have got more sense than all the other Negroes put together who have figured in any way before the public.”
This is not saying much for all of the other Negroes of the Judson Lyons, John R. Lynch, H. P. Cheatham, Fred Douglas, B. K. Bruce, John M. Langston, A. Walters, A. Grant stripe. But then the Times like the Century Dictionary may be an authority on this subject. It continues:
“What he says in the article which we quote is full of the soundest sense, and if all of the Negroes in the South would model their conduct upon what this Negro commends to them, al appearance of race antagonism would depart, and it would be infinitely better for the Negroes.”
Of course, if the Negro would only get back to the condition which existed before the war, yield up the right of franchise and be a “nigger” in deed and in truth everything would be lovely, and if it wouldn’t the Times would stand to one side, raise its cynical nose in the air and exclaim, “Well, I thought it would.” It patronizingly says:
….
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Lower Left Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Elizabeth Lopez-Lopez
Citation
“Is Fooling Thee.”,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed February 14, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/1335.