They cannot speak out for what they want. No one
is likely to second such a protest, not even the Negroes themselves, so
generally have they been intimidated. The more outspoken they become,
moreover, the more necessary is it for them to leave, for they thereby
destroy their chances to earn a livelihood. White men in control of the
public schools of the South see to it that the subserviency of the Negro
teachers employed be certified beforehand. They dare not complain too much
about equipment and salaries even if the per capita appropriation for the
education of the Negroes be one fourth of that for the whites.[23]
In the higher institutions of learning, especially the State schools, it
is exceptional to find a principal who has the confidence of the Negroes.
The Negroes will openly assert that he is in the pay of the reactionary
whites, whose purpose is to keep the Negro down; and the incumbent himself
will tell his board of regents how much he is opposed by the Negroes
because he labors for the interests of the white race. Out of such
sycophancy it is easily explained why our State schools have been so
ineffective as to necessitate the sending of the Negro youth to private
institutions maintained by northern philanthropy. Yet if an outspoken
Negro happens to be an instructor in a private school conducted by
educators from the North, he has to be careful about contending for a
square deal; for, if the head of his institution does not suggest to him
to proceed conservatively, the mob will dispose of the complainant.
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