A Tempest in a Teapot

The Planet supports a Richmond Times Dispatch article that discusses the burden of “social equality” and forced integrated events such as the “equality dinner.”

The Richmond, Va. Times-Dispatch, in its editorial of Thursday, April 30, 1908 gave voice to the best, most comprehensive, conservative views of, the so-called race question that we have ever seen in a Southern Democratic newspaper. We refer particularly to its remarks on the so-called ‘equality dinner” in New York City. It refused to be wrought up by the newspaper accounts of the affair and givens abundant evidence of the good feeling now existing in this locality between the better class of white people and the better class of colored ones. It is to be hoped that other white newspapers in this State will take a similar view and refuse to yield to the wishes of the political demagogues in low or high places, who are disposed to seize upon these incidents to accomplish some ambitious political purpose as against their fellows. The thoughtful colored people of Richmond do not anticipate holding any meeting in this city to protest against the dinner. They have no need to do so. Their views are too well known to the white people of this State to need any further reiteration of the subject. We are the worst suffered always in this “social equality” business. From the number of us who are ordered to leave our seats among the Negroes and take other seats among the white folks on the street cars and then ordered from the seats with the white folks to again take our seats with Negroes, we are satisfied that we have had enough of this “social equality” already. It is a great handicap to be a mulatto.

“A Tempest in a Teapot,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed February 15, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/551.