speech. Who
knows, then, what the providence of God is in this exodus.
This exodus is not by any means confined to the worthless or
the ignorant negro. A large per cent of the young negroes
in this exodus are rather intelligent. Many of the business
houses in Houston, Dallas and Galveston, where the exodus is
greatest in Texas, have lost some of their best help. To tell
the truth more fully, the negroes generally throughout the
South are more dissatisfied with conditions than they have
been for several years and there are just reasons why they
should be. Every negro newspaper and publication in this broad
land, including pamphlets and books, and the intelligent negro
pastor with backbone and courage are constantly protesting
against the injustices done the negro. And possibly these
agents have been the greatest incentives to help create and
crystallize this unrest and migration.

How the negro should be treated and what would hold him in the South
was discussed at length and on many occasions in the columns of the
_Atlanta_ (Georgia) _Independent_.[172] An example of this discussion
follows:

Last week we discussed at length the negro exodus. We tried to
point out in plain, simple and manly language the reason and
remedy for moving north. We warned our white neighbors that
city ordinances and legislation could not stem the tide;
that humane treatment would do more to settle the negro's
industrial and economic unrest than anything else; that the
South was his natural home and he desired to stay here; but in
order to keep him at home he must have contentment; he had to
be assured of protection of life and property; assured of
the enjoyment of public utilities; assured of educational
advantages, ample and adequate, to prepare his children for
useful and helpful citizenship; he must be permitted to serve
God unmolested and to assemble in the community where he
lives, in church, in society and politics; for his own moral,
intellectual and physical benefit he must be given living
wages and reminded in his daily dealings with his white
neighbor that he is a citizen, not a negro, and that he is
charged with responsibilities like other citizens. The negro
is conscious of his racial identity and not ashamed of it. He
is proud of his race and his color, but does not like to have
the