The Independence Party and the Negro

The Planet does not find the same sense of hope that J.B. Allen sees in Independence party member Thomas Hisgen’s speech, stating that “we fail to see anything in these assertions to cause a colored voter to feel jubilant.”

Mr. J.B. Allen of this city sees in the Independence Party the hope of the Negro. He quotes from the speech of Hon. Thomas L. Hisgen, their candidate for the Presidency. In his remarks made at Providence, Rhode Island, August 22, 1908, he said: “It is our duty to always bear in mind the words of the Constitution of teh United States, that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that every person is entitled to equal protection of the law. “This means equal and exact justice for all, regardless of race, creed, and color. Justice for the strong and weak, the rich and the poor alike.” We fail to see anything in these assertions to cause a colored voter to feel jubilant. Hon. William J. Bryan has said as much. Mr. Hisgen does not say one word about the political rights of the Negro, neither does he pledge himself to the enforcement of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. On the other hand, Hon. John Temple Graves of Georgia is known to have an antipathy to the colored people of this country. The Republican candidates have announced that they both stand squarely upon the platform adopted by the Republican National Convention at Chicago. Hon. James S. Sherman, the Vice-presidential nominee made a special reference to the Negro in his speech of acceptance. To our mind, Hon. Edward Chapin the Prohibition nominee for President of the United States, who at the risk of his own life and to his own injury protected a colored man fleeing from an Illinois mob did more to entitle him to the support of those doubtful colored voters than anything else could do. The Republican managers are “hugging” the Negroes like and angel in the doubtful states and “kicking” him “like the devil” in the southern ones.

“The Independence Party and the Negro,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed May 12, 2025, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/710.