The Case of the Negro”

Booker T. Washington declares the deprivation of constitutional privileges for black southerners may be due in part to the "advisability of the settlement of the [black man] in Northern States."

Prof. Booker T. Washington contributes a very able and practical article to the ATLANTIC MONTHLY of Boston, Mass., for November. He discusses “The Case of the Negro.” We have no hesitation in saying that this is one of the best productions he has as yet given to the public and it shows that he has come to a full appreciation of the true condition existing outside of the institution of which he is distinguished head.
He does not believe that the removal of the Negroes from this country will settle the question, because he does not believe they can be removed.
He questions the advisability of the settlement of the Negro in Northern States, believing that he is at his best in the Southern states.
Prof. WASHINGTON is standing on a bed-rock principle at last when he announces:
“I would not have the Negro deprived of any privilege granted to him by the Constitution of the United States. It is not best for the Negro that he relinquish any of his constitutional rights; it is not best for the Southern white man that he should.”
Prof. WASHINGTON now sees that the talk of disfranchising of the Negro as a “cure for all ills” is a visionary proposition, contrary to every principle of right and reason. He is severe in dealing with the Negro extremists of the North, alleging that they are more liable to aggravate the situation than to alleviate the existing conditions.

“The Case of the Negro”,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed January 24, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/1750.