"We were in Rotterdam over Sunday. The free and rather boisterous commingling of the sexes on the street was noteworthy. In this, also our people in the United States could set an example to the Dutch .
"The foundation of the civilization of these people is in their regard for and respect for the law, and their observance of it. This is the great lesson which the entire South must learn before it can hope to receive the respect and confidence of the world. Europeans do not understand how the South can disregard its own laws as it so often does. If you ask any man on that side of the Atlantic why he does not emigrate to the Southern part of the United States, he shrugs his shoulders and says, 'No law; they kill .' I pray God that no part of our country may much longer have such a reputation as that in any part of the world.
"From Holland we went to Paris... there are a good many well-educated and cultivated men and women of that nationality [Haitian] in Paris. Numbers of them are sent there each year for education, and take high rank in scholarship. It is greatly to be regretted, however, that some of these do not take advantage of the excellent training which is given there in the colleges of physical science, agriculture, mechanics, and domestic science. They would then be in a position to return home and assist developing the agricultural and mineral resources of their native land. Haiti will never be what it should be until a large number of the natives receive an education which will enable them to develop agriculture, build roads, start manufacturies, build railroads and bridges, and thus keep on the island the large amount of money which is now being sent outside for productions which these people themselves could supply."
Chapter 10: "European Impressions," CHARACTER BUILDING by Booker T. Washington (1902)
Saturday, March 4, 2017
"CHARACTER BUILDING". EXCERPTS
"We were in Rotterdam over Sunday. The free and rather boisterous commingling of the sexes on the street was noteworthy. In this, also our people in the United States could set an example to the Dutch .
"The foundation of the civilization of these people is in their regard for and respect for the law, and their observance of it. This is the great lesson which the entire South must learn before it can hope to receive the respect and confidence of the world. Europeans do not understand how the South can disregard its own laws as it so often does. If you ask any man on that side of the Atlantic why he does not emigrate to the Southern part of the United States, he shrugs his shoulders and says, 'No law; they kill .' I pray God that no part of our country may much longer have such a reputation as that in any part of the world.
"From Holland we went to Paris... there are a good many well-educated and cultivated men and women of that nationality [Haitian] in Paris. Numbers of them are sent there each year for education, and take high rank in scholarship. It is greatly to be regretted, however, that some of these do not take advantage of the excellent training which is given there in the colleges of physical science, agriculture, mechanics, and domestic science. They would then be in a position to return home and assist developing the agricultural and mineral resources of their native land. Haiti will never be what it should be until a large number of the natives receive an education which will enable them to develop agriculture, build roads, start manufacturies, build railroads and bridges, and thus keep on the island the large amount of money which is now being sent outside for productions which these people themselves could supply."
Chapter 10: "European Impressions," CHARACTER BUILDING by Booker T. Washington (1902)