A STUDY IN BLACK AND WHITE.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 12062, 25 January 1902, Page 1 (Supplement)

A STUDY IN BLACK AND WHITE.

[Bt EuzißEin L. Basks.] ‘ I tell you it is impossible for met remain through the play ! It gives ro. a feeling of nausea! The black by itsel would be bad enough, but 'he black anc the white right there together is mon than I can stand. Ton don’t mean tc say that a mixture like hat, under yrui very nose, doesn’t affect yonin the same way and make the cold chills run down your back : Ugh 1 Come, now I Be honest 1 Hasyonr residence in England made von so callous, so insensible, so indifferent to the eternal fi ness of things, that you can look upon a thing like that without a feeling of shock ? ’ ‘ Well, I will be honest and tell rnu that I don - ’t like it,’ I replied. ‘ The fact is, I hate it, and it makes me feel queer, too. I’ve been trying to get used to it for eight years and I just can’t! ’ 1 W.ill then as von are the only

w ell, men, as you are me omv member of the party whose sentiments I felt doubtful abou*, I propose 'hat we adjourn to 'he ho'el and have supper instead of seeing this play through.’ ‘ All right! ’ I answered. M y acceptation of the proposal for adjournment given in the American vernacular, was echoed bv the oher members of the par’y. and then we left the theatre. What was the matter ? Why simply this : I was one of a party of American men and women at one of the London theatres, and in the row of stalls directly in front of us there was a huge negro with a white woman on ei her side of him; We knew he had escorted the two women to the theatre because we had seeu them eu'er together. We had seen him bow them most gallantly into their seats before he seated himself We had noted that the women were well-dres«ed, nice - looking Englishwomen. Their gowns were of the latest mode, and the style of their coiffure gave them the flurearanee of havine been turned out

appearance or navmg uceu iuiu™ by the most correct of ladies’ maids. The black man was most properly at'ired in evening dress, his white shirt-front shining ont in resplendent contrast with his ebony face. 1 Grea* Heavens! ’ one of the American men bad exclaimed, taming pale ; ‘ what docs this mean ? What ! Isn t there anybody here to turn him ontf Those two whi e women are talking and laughing with him as familiarly as if he were whi e! ’ The American man looked about among us who composed his party, dazedly, questioningly, and his own look of horror was mirrored in 'he faces of ali. ‘ You ought to be able to explain this,’ he said at last, turning to me. * You’ve lived in this eoantry long enough to be guide and philosopher for the rest of us, who are «hat yon raigh' call strangers in a strange land. What’s the meaning of a sight like this con fronting a decent man who brines a party of ladies to what he supposes is a respectable place of entertainment.- ’ 4 It's nothing,’ I said. * Nothing ! ’ he repea'ed in amaze meat. ‘ A negro sitting in front of ns at the thea're ! A negro escorting two wfci e women! Did you ever see a thing like that in your own country f' ‘ No.’ I answered; ‘ but this is Eng land, and England, unlike America, is the land of liberty, equality and fraternity.' I spoke half seriously, ba'f banter, ingly, and for ans*er I had the declaration with which I have opened this li tie ‘ study.’ Then, as I have also said, I allowed myself to be honest and to reply honestly to 'he questions which my horrified countryman put to me, and then our little party of half a dozen Lft the theatre, intending to put in our time at supper ins eid of at he plav. It was a very expensive and fashion able place indeed to which we went—a place ‘ patronised by the nobility, the aris'ocracy, and the best jooplc,’ and even occasionally honored by ihe presence of Eoyalty. The writer had shown us to a table rather near the door, and we were about to take possession of it when one of the American men made an exclamation under Lis breath. 1 thought then, and I still think, that it was a profane exclamation, bn', it was under his breath, and he said to the waiter very gruffly ‘Xo! Xothere! Over there in thst corner—the very farthest corner, y n understand! That is the only table we will have! ’ I looked round me, and saw in close proximity to the place where we stood two negroes seated at table and enjoying a dainty meal 1 We w re far enough off, goodness Itrows, wten we got ti our abruptly chosen corner, but in spi e if >he fact that we had go; our table so arranged that the nnfor nna’e men of ebony hue were out of sight, ihey were no' by any means on of mind, and my friends from across the Atlantic spint all their evening in denouncing 'liberty ’ as i is found in England. They did not reason things out. They did not pretend oany loric. They did not go into the ques ion of he Fatherhood of God and th Brotherhood of Man They simply said they did not approve of a black man escorting two whi e women to the thea-re. That it should not be allowed, that it was indecent. That if such a thing had been at empled in an American hea re, even though there was no law against i", the trio would have been turned ont of the bouse. They also declared tha- if in a New Y'ork hotel the two negroes had ordered a meal (hey would not have been served. The waiters would have been * too busy,’ and if then the hlaci men had no; left the place the whi e people would have made v so unplea-ant that they won;d have been obliged to leave. * Yon think the same as we do 1 Now, don’t you? ’ asked one of the American women, looking me straight in the face I had been trying to philosophise, to explain that all such feeling was wrong, > that Americans, especially, shon d not and could not consistently make such distinctions. It was useless. 3ly attempt to be logical and consistent was a failure, and I bad io reply to my countrywoman, ‘ Yes, I do! I can’t help it I lam not quite so much shocked as yen arc because I’ve been in England for a long time and have become somewhat accustomed to this sort of thing, but I don’t like it either 1 ’ It is tree 1 These things shock us ! They make us feel what you English call‘queer.’ We do not like to see a black man or a black woman in tie stall of the theatre. Wh-'n wc see a black man in company with a white woman as her ‘ equal,’ and not as her servant, we actually get that feeling of nausea of which my countryman spoke. We are willing to have he negroes cook our dinner and serve it to us. but we do not want them sitting at the next table to us. We know, quite as well as you English, that our posi'ion is inconsistent, unreasonable, untenable. But our feeling is one tha’ exists in spite of reason, in spite of argument, in spite of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitutional Amendments which made the negro * free and equal.’ What are we going to do about it r Xothing t Some time ago I attended at a large reception given at the residence of an English nobleman. I was talking with an American woman when an eminent

and venerable Englishman came up and said ;‘Ah ! here you are! I have been wanting to introduce 41r to yon. I will bring him to yon. He is one of your countrymen, and a very dis tingnished one, too.’ ILr was a negro. He was at the other end of the room, whore an English duke and his duchess were chatting familiarly with him. But we two American women looked at the vener able Englishman with bewilderment on our faces. He was quick to read our thoughts. •You need not say anything!’ he said hurriedly. ‘1 see, I sec 1 . I will not bring him! But how can you reconcile it with your Declaration of Independence i' ■We don’t attempt to reconcile it, because we know we can't! ’ I answered, half sadly.