is rhyme is: "I'd Rather Be a Negro Than a Poor
White Man." We must bear in mind that a Folk Rhyme from its very nature
carries in it the crystallized thought of the masses. This rhyme, though
a little acidic and though we have recorded the milder version, leaves
the unquestioned conclusion that, though the Negro masses may have
wished for the exalted station of the rich Southern white man and
possibly would have willingly had a white color as a passport to
position, there never was a time when the Negro masses desired to be
white for the sake of being white. Of course there is the Negro rhyme,
"I Wouldn't Marry a Black Girl," but along with it is another Negro
rhyme, "I Wouldn't Marry a White or a Yellow Negro Girl." The two rhymes
simply point out together a division of Negro opinion as to the ideal
standard of beauty in personal complexion. One part of the Negroes
thought white or yellow the more beautiful standard and the other part
of the Negroes thought black the more beautiful standard.

The body of the Rhymes, here and there, carries many facts between the
lines, well worth knowing.

This collection also will shed some light on how the Negro managed to go
through so many generations "in slavery and still come out" with a
bright, capable mind. There were no colleges or schools for them, but
there were Folk Rhymes, stories, Jubilee songs, and Nature; they used
these and kept mentally fit.

I now approach the more difficult and probably the most important
portion of my discussion in the Study of Negro Folk Rhymes. It is a
discussion that I would have willingly omitted, had I not thought that
some one owed it to the world. Seeing a debt, as I thought, and not
seeing another to pay it, I have reluctantly undertaken to discharge
the obligation.

If I were so fortunate as to possess a large flower garden with many new
and rare genera and species, and wished to acquaint my friends with
them, I should first take these friends for a walk through the garden,
that they might see the odd tints and hues, might inhale a little of the
new fragrance, and might get some idea as to the prospects for the
utilization of these new plants in the world. Then, taking these friends
back to my study room, I should consider in a friendly manner along with
them, the Families and the Species, and the varieties. Finally, I should
endeavor to lay before them from whence these new and strange flowers
came. I have endeavored to pursue this m