As a black man, we say if we cannot stand up, let us fall down. We
desire to be a man among men while we do live; and when we cannot,
we wish to die. It is evident, painfully evident to every reflecting
mind, that the means of living, for colored men, are becoming more
and more precarious and limited. Employments and callings formerly
monopolized by us, are so no longer.
White men are becoming house-servants, cooks and stewards on
vessels--at hotels.--They are becoming porters, stevedores,
wood-sawers, hod-carriers, brick-makers, white-washers and barbers,
so that the blacks can scarcely find the means of subsistence--a few
years ago, a _white_ barber would have been a curiosity--now their
poles stand on every street. Formerly blacks were almost the exclusive
coachmen in wealthy families: this is so no longer; white men are now
employed, and for aught we see, they fill their servile station with
an obsequiousness as profound as that of the blacks. The readiness and
ease with which they adapt themselves to these conditions ought not to
be lost sight of by the colored people. The meaning is very important,
and we should learn it. We are taught our insecurity by it.
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