Pan-Africanism in 1900
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ADDRESS TO THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD BY THE
RACES CONGRESS IN LONDON, 1900
In the metropolis of the modern world, in this the closing year of the nineteenth
century, there has been assembled a congress of men and women of African blood,
to deliberate solemnly upon the present situation and outlook of the darker races of
Mankind. The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the colour-line,
the question as to how far differences of race—-which show themselves chiefly in the
colour of the skin and the texture of the hair—-will hereafter be made the basis of
denying to over half the world the right of sharing to their utmost ability the
opportunities and privileges of modern civilization.
To be sure, the darker races are today the least advanced in culture according
to European standards. This has not, however, always been the case in the
past, and certainly the world's history, both ancient and modern, has given many
instances of no despicable ability and capacity among the blackest races of men.
In any case, the modern world must remember that in this age when the
ends of the world are being brought so near together the millions of black men in
Africa, America, and the Islands of the Sea, not to speak of the brown and yellow
myriad elsewhere, are bound to have a great influence upon the world in the future,
by reason of sheer numbers and physical contact. If now the world of culture bends
itself towards giving Negroes and other dark men the largest and broadest
opportunity for education and self-development, then this contact and influence is
bound to have a beneficial effect upon the world and hasten Human progress. But
if, by reason of carelessness, prejudice, greed and injustice, the black world is to be
exploited and ravished and degraded, the results must be deplorable, if not fatal-—
not simply to them, but to the high ideals of justice, freedom and culture which
a thousand years of Christian civilization held before Europe.
And now, therefore, to these ideals of civilization, to the broader humanity
of the followers of the Prince of Peace, we, the men and women of Africa in world
congress assembled, do now solemnly appeal:
Let the world take no backward step in that slow but sure progress which has
successively refused to let the spirit of class, of caste, of privilege, or of birth, de-
bar from life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness a striving Human soul.
Let not color or race be a feature of distinction between white and black men,
regardless of worth or ability.
Let not the natives of Africa be sacrificed to the greed of gold, their liberties taken
away, their family life debauched, their just aspirations repressed, and avenues
of advancement and culture taken from them.
Let not the cloak of Christian missionary enterprise be allowed in the future, as so
often in the past, to hide the ruthless economic exploitation and political downfall
of less developed nations, whose chief fault has been reliance on the plighted
faith of the Christian Church.
Let the British nation, the first modern champion of Negro Freedom, hasten to
crown the work of Wilberforce, and Clarkson, and Buxton, and Sharpe, Bishop
Colenso, and Livingstone, and give, as soon as practicable, the rights of
responsible government to the black colonies of Africa and the West Indies.
Let not the spirit of Garrison, Phillips, and Douglass wholly die out in America;
may the conscience of a great nation rise and rebuke all dishonesty and unrighteous
oppression toward the American Negro, and grant to him the right of franchise,
security of person and property, and generous recognition of the great
work he has accomplished in a generation toward raising nine millions of Human beings
from slavery to manhood.
Let the German Empire, and the French Republic, true to their great past, remember
that the true worth of colonies lies in their prosperity and progress, and that
justice, impartial alike to black and white, is the first element of prosperity.
Let the Congo Free State become a great central Negro State of the world, and let
its prosperity be counted not simply in cash and commerce, but in the happiness
and true advancement of its black people.
Let the nations of the World respect the integrity and independence of the first
Negro States of Abyssinia, Liberia, Haiti, and the rest, and let the inhabitants of
these States, the independent tribes of Africa, the Negroes of the West Indies
and America, and the black subjects of all nations take courage, strive ceaselessly,
and fight bravely, that they may prove to the world their incontestable
right to be counted among the great brotherhood of Mankind.
Thus we appeal with boldness and confidence to the Great Powers of the civilized
world, trusting in the wide spirit of humanity, and the deep sense of justice of our
age, for a generous recognition of the righteousness of our cause.
ALEXANDER WALTERS (Bishop)
President Pan-African Association
HENRY B. BROWN
Vice-President
H. SYLVESTER WILLIAMS
General Secretary
W. E. BURGHARDT DU BOIS
Chairman Committee on Address
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