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Title: The Ultimate Criminal
The American Negro Academy. Occasional Papers No. 17

Author: Archibald H. Grimke

Release Date: February 17, 2010 [EBook #31299]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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OCCASIONAL PAPERS, NO. 17.

THE AMERICAN NEGRO ACADEMY.

THE ULTIMATE CRIMINAL

ANNUAL ADDRESS
ARCHIBALD H. GRIMKE

PRICE : : 15 CTS.

WASHINGTON, D. C.:
PUBLISHED BY THE ACADEMY
1915

THE ULTIMATE CRIMINAL.

It is the fashion nowadays for every one with a stone in his hand to take
a shy at the poor Negro on account of his sins of commission and omission.
It is enough that some member of the race is caught _flagrante delicto_ or
merely on suspicion of evil doing to get himself into the public pillory
and the rest of the colored people into our national rogues' gallery,
where they evoke instantly the loud lamentation of white saints and
sinners alike, and the statistical and sophistical conclusions of a lot of
fools and hypocrites. Now do not misunderstand me. I do not deny that
Negroes commit crimes. Not at all, for I know full well that they
do--altogether too many for their own good. But what I object to among
other things is that America, because of the crimes of individual Negroes
or because of the suspected crimes of individual Negroes, draws an omnibus
indictment against the moral character of the whole race, which is
monstrously unjust and wicked.

Who cares to inquire into the origin of Negro crime, or into the causes
which have contributed mightily to produce the Negro criminal? The book of
the Genesis of this man's crimes awaits to be written by an impartial and
sympathetic seeker after truth. The causes which have operated for fifty
years to produce Negro criminals will some day, I trust, be traced without
fear or bias to their source. I do not pretend to possess any scientific
qualification for such a task, but I d