he slumbering Negro mind that must ere long awake
to power. May the coming, then, of Mr. Dixon, the literary exotic, serve
as a reminder to the American people that they give the Negro a healthy
place, a helpful atmosphere in which to evolve all that is good within
himself and eliminate all the bad. If this be done, even Mr. Dixon will
not have lived and frothed in vain.

A FINAL WORD.

A final word with regard to Mr. Dixon. The appearance of such a man with
such a spirit might incline one to think that the world is going
backward rather than forward. But there is this redeeming thought. Mr.
Dixon represents the ultra radical element of Southern whites. The
coming of this radical of radicals before the bar of public opinion,
clothed in his garb of avowed prejudice of the rankest sort, means that
the self-satisfied isolation of the past is over, that even the radicals
desire or see the need of sympathetic consideration from other portions
of the human family--decidedly a step forward for them. The coming to
the light of this type where civilization may work upon it is in this
respect one of the most hopeful signs of America's future. Soberly the
great world consciousness will deal with this enemy of the human race,
and the universal finger of scorn that will surely in the end be pointed
toward him will render it certain that no other like unto him shall ever
arise.

If, when his services are in demand, the chiseler of the epitaph for Mr.
Dixon's tombstone desires to carve words that will be read with patience
in the coming better days of the world, let him carve thus:

"This misguided soul ignored all of the good in the aspiring
Negro; made every vicious offshoot that he pictured typical of
the entire race; presented all mistakes independent of their
environments and provocations; ignored or minimized all the
evil in the more vicious element of whites; said and did all
things which he deemed necessary to leave behind him the
greatest heritage of hatred the world has ever known. Humanity
claims him not as one of her children."

SUTTON E. GRIGGS.

* * * * *

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

1. Words or phrases that were italized in the original are enclosed in
underscores ('_') in this edition. Words and phrases bolded in the
original are enclosed in pond signs ('#').

2. Unusual, irregular