Through AfroAmerica Author:William Archer Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: n THE BLACK MAN'S PARADISE It was my good fof tune to have for my hosts in Washington two active sympathizers with the negro. The husband hails from a Nort... more »h-Western State ; the wife is a New Englander. They knew personally some of the Abolitionist leaders, and are still full of their spirit. They related to me cruel and deplorable incidents in the everyday life of the streets. " One afternoon," said my host, "I was sitting peaceably in a street-car, when I was suddenly conscious of an altercation between the conductor and a coloured man. The absolute rights of the matter I don't know, but it had somehow arisen out of a recent modification of the ' transfer' system, which the coloured man probably did not understand. I had scarcely realized what was happening, before men were standing on the seats of the car, shouting, 'Kill the d d nigger! We'll all stand by you ! All Virginia is behind you!' The motor-man detached the heavy brass handle by which he works the car, ran up to the negro, and had actually raised itto strike. I interposed, and told the man that, if anything happened, he would get into trouble for leaving his post. He replied: ' The nigger's abusive,' but sullenly went back to his platform." " Was the nigger abusive ? " I asked. " I don't know. I didn't hear him say anything ; but it is quite possible that he had been ' sassy.' All I know is that he stood his ground like a man, with that yelling crowd around him." " And what happened ? " " Oh, the thing blew over. The negro walked away, and the crowd dispersed. As I took my seat again in the car, the man next me said, 'If that had happened in South Carolina, he would have been a dead nigger.' " " Not long ago," my hostess said, " I was in a crowded street-car. A black woman with a bab...« less