Excerpt from 'From Superman to Man' by J.A. Rogers

Joel Augustus Rogers was born in Jamaica (1883-1966). A self-educated man, he was an author, historian and journalist traveling in Europe, Asia and Africa in search of material on the African peoples and the African diaspora. He challenged prevailing ideas about race in his time which is also reflected in the following excerpt. His articles have been published in various newspapers and in such magazines as The American Mercury, The Crisis, The Survey Graphic, and the Journal of Negro History. From Superman to Man (1917), the Maroons of the West Indies and South America (1921), the World’s Greatest Men of African Descent (1931) and Sex and Race (1941), and articles “Impressions of Dixie”, “Jazz at Home”, “The American Negro in Europe”, and “The Real Facts about Ethiopia”, are among his many many publications. The following passage is from The Superman to Man. It contains quite a lot of racist remarks, but I decided not to censor it. The debate between the racist white man and the knowledgeable black man is witty and clever, and I hold it in high regard.

[The Porter Debates the Senator]

THE LIMITED WAS SPEEDING to California over the snow-blanketed prairies of Iowa. On car "Bulwer" the passengers had all retired, and Dixon, the porter, his duties finished, sought the more comfortable warmth of the smoker, where he intended to resume the reading of the book he had brought with him, Finot's "Race Prejudice." He had been reading last of the Germans and their doctrine of the racial inferiority of the remainder of the white race. Having found the passage again, he began to read: – "The notion of superior and inferior peoples spread like wildfire through Germany. German literature, philosophy, and politics were profoundly influenced by it – ." . . .

The Germans of 1854, he reflected, built up a theory of the inferiority of the other peoples of the white race. Some of these so-called inferior whites have, in turn, built up a similar theory about the darker peoples. This recalled to him some of the many falsities current about his own people. He thought of how in nearly all the large libraries of the United States, which he had been permitted to enter, he had found books advancing all sorts of theories to prove that they were inferior. Some of these theories even denied their human origin. He went on to reflect on the discussions he had heard on the cars and other places from time to time, and of what he called "the heirloom ideas" that many persons had concerning the different varieties of the human race. These discussions, he went on to reflect, had done him good. They had been the means of his acquiring a fund of knowledge on the subject of race, as they had caused him to look up those opinions he had thought incorrect in the works of the standard scientists. Moved by these thoughts he took a morocco-bound notebook from his vest pocket and wrote: - "This doctrine of racial superiority apparently incited the other white peoples, most of whom were enemies to one another, to unite against the Germans, and destroy their empire. Will the doctrine of white superiority over the darker races produce a similar result to white empire?"

But at this juncture his thoughts were interrupted by the entrance of someone. Looking up he saw a man clad in pajamas and overcoat, and with slippered feet, enter the room.

Now Dixon had taken special notice of this man for, during the afternoon, he had been discussing the color question with another passenger in the smoker. From what Dixon had overheard, the man just entering was a Southern senator on his way to California on business. Dixon had occasion to go into the room several times. On one occasion he had heard this man say vehemently "The `nigger' is a menace to our civilization and should be kept down. I am opposed to educating him, for the educated `nigger' is a misfit in the white man's civilization. He is a caricature and no good can result from his ‘butting in’ on our affairs. Would to God that none of the breed had ever set on the shores of our country. That's the proper place for a ‘nigger,’” he had said quite aloud, on seeing Dixon engaged in wiping out the wash bowls.

At another time he had heard the same speaker deliver himself of this opinion: – "You may say what you please, but I would never eat with a `nigger.' I couldn't stomach it. God has placed an insuperable barrier between black and white that will ever prevent them from living on the same social plane, at least so far as the Anglo-Saxon is concerned. I have no hatred for the black man – in fact, I could have none, but he must stay in his place."

“That’s nothing else but racial antipathy," his opponent had objected.

“You don't have to take my word for it," said the other, snappily.

“Didn't Abraham Lincoln say: `There is a physical difference between the white and black races which, I believe, will forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality'? Call it what you will, but there is an indefinable something within me that tells me that I am infinitely better than the best ‘nigger' that ever lived. feeling is instinctive and I am not going to violate nature." …

"You, too, had slavery in the North, but it didn't pay and you gave it up. Wasn't your pedantic and self-righteous Massachusetts the first to legalize slavery? You, Northerners, forced slavery on us, and when you couldn't make any more money in it, because England had stopped the slave trade, you made war on us to make us give it up. A matter of climate, that's all. Climes reversed, it would have been the South that wanted abolition. It was a matter of business with you, not sentiment. You Northerners who had an interest in slavery, were bitterIy opposed to abolition. It is all very well for you to talk, but if you Yankees had the same percentage of `niggers' that we have, you would sing a different tune. The bitterest people against the `nigger' are you Northerners who have come South. You, too, have race riots, lynching and segregation. The only difference between South and North is, that one is frank and the other hypocritical," and he added with vehement sincerity, "I hate hypocrisy."

In spite of this avowed enmity toward his people, Dixon had felt no animosity toward the man. Here, he had thought, was a conscience, honest but uneducated.

All of this ran through the porter's mind when he saw the pajama-clad passenger appear in the doorway. The newcomer, on entering, walked up to the mirror, where he looked at himself quizzically for a moment, then selected a chair and adjusting it to suit his fancy, made himself comfortable in it; next, he took a plain and well-worn gold cigarette case from his pocket, selected a cigarette, and, after tapping it on the chair, began rummaging in his pockets for a match, all in apparent oblivion to the presence of Dixon at the near end of the long cushioned seat. But Dixon had been quietly observing him and deftly presented a lighted match, at the same time venturing to inquire in a respectful and rather solicitous tone, "Can’t sleep, sir?"

"No, George," same the reply in an amiable, but condescending tone, "I was awakened at the last stop and can't go back to sleep. I never do very well the first night, anyway."

With this the senator began to talk to Dixon quite freely, telling him of his trip from Oklahoma. They soon began to talk about personal matters. Into this part of the conversation the senator injected phrases such as "darkies," "niggers" and "coons."

From this he began to tell jokes about chicken-stealing, razor-fights, and watermelon feasts. Of such jokes he evidently had an abundant stock. Nearly all of these Dixon had heard time and again. One was the anecdote of a Negro headwaiter in a Northern hotel who, when asked by a Southern guest if he were the head "nigger," indignantly objected to the epithet, but upon the visitor's informing him that it was his custom to give a large tip to the "head-nigger" this head-waiter, so the story goes, effusively retracted, saying, "Yessah, Boss, I'se de’ head niggah," and pointing to the waiters, added, "and ef you doan b'leave me ast all dem othah niggahs dah."

The narrator was laughing immoderately, and so was the listener. Had the entertainer been a mind reader, however, he might not have been flattered by his success as a comedian, since it was his conduct, and not his wit, that was furnishing the porter's mirth.

While the senator was still laughing the train began to slow down and Dixon, asking to be excused, slid to the other end of the seat to look out, thus exposing the book he had placed behind him. The senator saw the volume and his look of laughter was instantly changed to one of curiosity.
The book stood end up on the seat and he could discern from its size and binding that it was a volume that might contain serious thought. He had somehow felt that this Negro was above the ordinary and the sight of the book now confirmed the feeling.

A certain forced quality in the timbre of Dixon's laughter as also the merry twinkle in his eye, had made him feel at times just a bit uncomfortable, and now he wanted to verify the suspicion. His curiousity getting the better of him, he reached over to take the volume, but the same instant Dixon's slipping back to his former seat caused him to hesitate. Yet he determined to find out. He demanded flippantly, pointing to the book, – "Reading the Bible, George?"

"No, sir."

"What then?"

"Oh, only a scientific work," said the other, carelessly, not wishing to broach the subject of racial differences that the title of the book suggested. Dixon's very evident desire to evade a direct answer seemed to sharpen the other's curiosity. He suggested off-handedly, but with ill-concealed eagerness: "Pretty deep stuff, eh?" Then in the same manner he inquired, "Who's the author?"Dixon saw the persistent curiosity in the other's eye. Knowing too well the nature of the man before him, he did not want to give him the book, but being unable to find any pretext for further withholding it, he took it from the seat, turned it right side up, and handed it to the senator. The latter took it with feigned indifference. Moistening his forefinger, he began turning over the leaves, then settled down to read the marked passages. Now and then he would mutter: "Nonsense! Ridiculous!” Suddenly in a burst of impatience he turned to the frontispiece, and exclaimed in open disgust: "Just as I thought. Written by a Frenchman." Then, before he could recollect to whom he was talking – so full was he of what he regarded as the absurdity of Finot’s view – he demanded – "Do you believe all this rot about the equality of the races?”

Now Dixon's policy was to avoid any topic that would be likely to produce a difference of opinion with a passenger, provided that the avoidance did not entail any sacrifice of his self-respect. In this instance he regarded his questioner as one to be humored, rather than vexed, for just then the following remark, made by this legislator that afternoon, recurred to him:

“The Jew, the Frenchman, the Dago and the Spaniards are all ‘niggers’ to a greater or lesser extent. The only white people are the Anglo-Saxon, Teutons and Scandinavians.”

This, Dixon surmised, had accounted for the remark the other had made about the author's adopted nationality, and it amused him.

As Dixon pondered the question there occurred to him a way by which he could retain his own opinion while in apparent accord with the passenger. He responded accordingly: –

"No, sir, I do not believe in the equality of the races. As you say, it is impossible.”

The senator looked up as if he had not been expecting a response, but seemingly pleased with Dixon’s acquiescence he continued as he turned the leaves: “Writers of this type don’t know what they are talking about. They write from mere theory. If they had to live among ‘niggers,’ they would sing an entirely different tune.”

Dixon felt that he ought not to let this remark go unchallenged. He protested courteously: "Yes, sir, M. Finot has proved his argument admirably. I am sure if you were to read his book you would agree with him, too."

"Didn't you just say you didn't agree with this book?"

"I fear you misunderstood me, sir."

"Didn't you say you did not believe in the equality of the races?”

"Yes, sir."

"Then why?"

"Because as you said, sir, it is impossible."

"Why? Why?"

"Because there is but one race – the human race."

The senator did not respond. Despite his anger at the manner in which Dixon had received and responded to his question, he stopped to ponder the situation in which his unwitting question had placed him.

As he had confessed, he did not like educated Negroes, and had no intention of engaging in a controversy with one. His respect and his aversion for this porter had increased with a bound. Now he was weighing the respective merits of the two possible courses – silence and response. If he remained silent, this Negro might think he had silenced him, while to respond would be to engage in an argument, thus treating the Negro as an equal. After weighing the matter for some time he decided that of the two courses, silence was the less compatible with his racial dignity, and with much condescension, his stiff voice and haughty manner a marked contrast to his jollity of a few minutes past, he demanded:

"You say there is only one race. What do you call yourself?"
"An American citizen," responded the other, composedly.
"Perhaps you have never heard of the word `nigger'?"

"Couldn't help it, sir," came the reply in the same quiet voice.
"Then do you believe the `nigger' is the equal of the Anglo-Saxon race?" he demanded with ill-concealed anger.

"I have read many books on anthropology, sir, but I have not seen mention of either a `nigger' race or an Anglo-Saxon one.

“Very well, do you believe your race – the black race – is equal to the Caucasian?”

Dixoni stopped to weigh the wisdom of his answering. What good would it do to talk with a man seemingly so rooted in his prejudices? Then a smile came to him. On a visit to the Bureau of Standards at Washington, D. C., he had seen the effect of the pressure of a single finger upon a supported bar of steel three inches thick. The slight strain had caused the steel to yield one-twenty-thousandth part of an inch, as the delicate apparatus, the interferometer, had registered. Since every action, he went on to reason, produces an effect, and truth, with the impulse of the Cosmos behind it, is irresistible, surely if he advanced his views in a kindly spirit, he must modify the error in this man. But still he hesitated. Suddenly he recalled that here was a legislator: was one of those, who, above all others, ought to know the truth. This thought decided his course. He would answer to the point, resolving at the same time to restrict any conversation that might ensue to the topic of the human race as a whole and to steer clear of the color question in the United States. He responded with soft courtesy:
“I have found, sir, that any division of humanity according to physique can have but a merely nominal value, as differences in physiques are caused by climatic conditions and are subject to rechange by them. As you know, both Science and the Bible are agreed that all so-called races came from a single source. Scientists who have made a study of this question tell us that the Negro and the Yankee are both approaching the Red Indian type. Pigmented humanity becomes lighter in the temperate zone, while unpigmented humanity becomes brown in the tropics. One summer's exposure at a bathing beach is enough to make a life-saver darker than many Indians. The true skin of all human beings is of the same color – all men are white under the first layer.

"Then it is possible by the blending of human varieties to produce innumerable other varities, each one capable of reproducing and continuing itself.

“Again, anthropologists have never been able to classify human varities. Huxley, as you know, named 2, Blumenbach 5, Burke 63, while others, desiring greater accuracy, have named hundreds.

Since these classifications are so vague and changeable, it is evident, is it not, sir, that any division of humanity, whether by color or skin, hair or facial contour, to be other than purely nominal, must be of mentality? And to classify humanity by intellect, would be, as you know, an impossible task. Nature, so far as we know, made only the individual. This idea has been ably expressed by Lamarck, who, in speaking of the human race, says, – 'Classifications are artificial, for nature had created neither classes, nor orders, nor families, nor kinds, nor permanent species, but only individuals.'"

The senator handed back the book to Dixon, huffily. "But, you have not answered my question yet," he insisted, "I asked, do you believe the black race will ever attain the intellectual standard of the Caucasian?"

"Intellect, whether of civilized or uncivilized humanity, as you know, sir, is elastic in quality. That is, primitive man when transplanted to civilization not only becomes civilized, but sometimes excels some of those whose ancestors have had centuries of culture, and the child of civilized man when isolated among primitives becomes one himself. We would find that the differences between a people who had acquired say three or four generations of beneficent culture, and another who had been long civilized would be about the same as that between the individuals in the long civilized group. That is, the usual human differences would exist. To be accurate we would have to appraise each individual separately. Any comparison between the groups would be inexact."

"But," reiterated the other, sarcastically, "you have not answered my question. Do you believe the black man will ever attain the high intellectual standard of the Caucasian? Yes or no?"

"For the most authoritative answer," responded Dixon in the calm manner of the disciplined thinker, "we must look to modern science. If you don't mind, sir, I will give you some quotations from scientists of acknowledged authority, all of your own race."

Dixon drew out his notebook.

"Bah," said the other savagely, "opinions! Mere opinions! I asked you what you think and you are telling me what someone else says. What I want to know is, what do YOU think?"

"Each of us," replied Dixon, evenly, "however learned, however independent, is compelled to seek the opinion of someone else some particular subject at some time. There is the doctor and the other professionals, for instance. Now in seeking advice one usually places the most reliance on those one considers experts, is it not? This afternoon I overheard you quoting from one of Lincoln's debates with Douglas in order to prove your views."

Silence.

Dixon opened his notebook. After finding the desired passage he said:

"In 1911 most of the leading sociologists and anthropologists of the world met in a Universal Races Congress in London. The opinion of that congress was that all the so-called races of men are essentially equal. Gustav Spiller, its organizer and secretary, voiced the findings of that entire body of experts when, after a careful weighing of the question of superiority and inferiority, he said (here Dixon read from the notebook):

“We are then under the necessity of concluding that an impartial investigator would be inclined to look upon the various important peoples of the world as, to all intents and purposes, essentially equal in intellect, enterprise, morality and physique."

Dixon found another passage and said: "Finot, whose findings ought to be regarded as more valuable than the expressions of those who base their arguments on sentiment or on Hebrew mythology, says, – “All peoples may attain this distant frontier which the brains of the whites have reached.” He also says:

"The conclusion, therefore, forces itself upon us, that there are no inferior and superior races, but only races and peoples living outside or within the influence of culture.

"The appearance of civilization and its evolution among certain white peoples and within a certain geographical latitude is only the effect of circumstances.”