E. H. to Frederick Douglass, January 18, 1859

PREJUDICE AGAINST COLOR.

ROCHESTER, Jan. 18th, 1859.

MR. EDITOR:—There is a fearful disease abroad in the land—in this land of light, of mental and moral illumination—this land boasted throughout all lands as a grand nursery of science, art and civilization. In this fair country, highly favored as it is, we have a disease common only to ourselves. Neither England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, nor any part of Europe, has yet been touched by its poisonous breath. We have it all to ourselves.

If there is any one thing more contemptible than another, it is that peculiar American feeling, or want, called prejudice against color. To this abominable element of American character may be traced the measureless abuse heaped upon the man of color. It is this that rivets the chains upon the four millions yet in bonds. It is this that prevents the education and elevation of the nominally free. Everywhere this cruel and unjust prejudice follows us, in public and private, in church and State; everywhere we are shunned, spurned, and despised. No matter how intelligent and refined the colored man or his family may be, if he enters the church, or the public hall, all eyes are turned upon him—ladies, with scornful looks and upturned noses, pass quickly by. Perhaps as a last resort, rather than stand up, they will gather up their costly drapery, and with faces expressive of "mortal agony," drop into a seat near him. Just so it was, and even now is in many public schools.

The dark browed descendants of Afric's sunny clime were not allowed to sit side by side with their paler brethren. Was it all prejudice against color? or were the parents afraid that by superior scholarship the black child would wreathe his sable brow with the laurels which they would have their own children wear? In a small village in Western New York a colored girl was expelled from a select school, because she was black; but from a letter written to the preceptress by the gentleman who was instrumental in having her expelled, it was discovered that it was not so much the color, as the certainty where the prize was going, that caused her expulsion. That prejudice against color is

contrary to all the laws of nature and revelation, is evident to every reflecting mind.

"For God hath made of one blood all the nations of the earth to dwell on all the face of the earth." That there are differences of form and color, is no reason why we should not acknowledge the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of man. There are differences in the animal and vegetable world—differences of form and coloring—but who would be so absurd as to suppose that they were not all equal in the kind care and fatherly protection of the great Creator.

The black man is subject to the same natural laws as the white man. His gardens are watered by the same gentle rains, refreshed by the same night dews; seed time and harvest, summer and winter, are the same to him as to the white man. God is no respecter of persons—and shall man scorn and despise his brother man? Prejudice against color is more than a disease; it is a crime, a sin against God and man, an outrage upon our common humanity, and a disgrace to the nation.

E. H.