PARENTHOOD AND RACE CULTURE' 



Percy W. Toombs 

 Memphis. Tcnn. 



WHEN the founders of this re- 

 public first set down the tenets 

 upon which they proposed to 

 estabhsh a new state they declared 

 that all men are born free and 

 equal. This may almost be said to be 

 their basic principle, the cornerstone 

 upon which their entire plan of gov- 

 ernment was founded, and in general it 

 is the principle upon which most of 

 our laws and a considerable part of our 

 social code has been based. We have 

 never — as a nation — seriously ques- 

 tioned the truth of this assertion, nor 

 gone to any trouble to find out whether 

 its application tended to good or evil 

 results. It was the special pride of 

 those who had a hand in the original 

 formation of the civil and social regu- 

 lations which still govern these United 

 States that no account was made of 

 caste, that family, birth, breeding, 

 played no part in the assignment of 

 honor or prestige, that every citizen 

 had full chance to rise by merit alone 

 and that all prizes could be gained by 

 those who would reach out and take 

 them. 



It is only within the memory of 

 practically every person in this room 

 that anyone seriously questioned the 

 natural equality of all races of man- 

 kind. Every man was held responsible 

 for his conduct, which must be regu- 

 lated according to the code most gen- 

 erally acceptable to his fellows ; failure 

 to conduct himself according to this 

 code was visited with punishment. It 

 was admitted that some individuals 

 had less opportunity than certain others 

 to learn and understand this code, and 

 a degree of leniency from society was 

 extended to them on that account, but 

 in general it was taken for granted 



that those whose conduct ran contrarv 

 to the best interests of society erred 

 because they were unwilling — not be- 

 cause they were unable — to act in ac- 

 cordance with generally accepted stan- 

 dards of right and morality. 



Environment Overemphasized 



During the last quarter century es- 

 pecially, there has been a world-wide 

 impulse toward social betterment and 

 race improvement. Many of those who 

 talked most and labored hardest over 

 these movements did not have a very 

 clear idea of just what they were aim- 

 ing at. The general idea was that even 

 if nature has imposed certain handicaps 

 upon the individual at birth, these im- 

 pediments can be remo\'ed by proper 

 care of the body and intelligent training 

 of the mind, and that any individual 

 so relieved of his congenital deterrents 

 can in turn pass on to his descendants 

 the physical and mental improvements 

 which his environment has made in 

 him, at the same time failing to trans- 

 mit to them the undesirable qualities 

 with which he was originally equipped. 

 Thus in the course of a few genera- 

 tions even a heavily handicapped indi- 

 vidual might exhibit progeny free from 

 all taint. Of course it was recognized 

 that this was an ideal, not likely to be 

 immediately attained, but it was not 

 doubted that it was at least theoretically 

 possible. It is on this assumption that 

 most of our present system of charities 

 and correction is based. Where the 

 most glaring congenital inequalities 

 have presented themselves — as in the 

 case of the negro — we have endeavored 

 to level them by federal statute, be- 

 lieving that the new doctrine that no 

 man should sufl^er degradation becaus-- 



^Read before the Memphis Chapter of The Egyptians, April 11, 1922. 



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