Fifty Years of Freedomwith matters of vital importance to both the white and colored people of the United States
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How white men of the North and West whose fathers fought and died to save the Union, and through whom freedom and the great amendments to the constitution came, can stand silently by and see the same rebel spirit that sought to destroy the Union set upon the colored man and rob him of his rights—the very rights that came to him as the result of the blood shed by their fathers, I have never been able to understand. The sons of the rebels are still true to the principles for which their fathers fought and died. It is only in the North and West, among the descendants of the men who fought and died for the Union, that we find the principles for which their fathers stood, forgotten or cowardly surrendered. For these men to allow the colored man to be robbed of his rights by the descendants of those who fought to destroy the Union and to perpetuate slavery is to dishonor the memory of their fathers; is virtually to say, that they were wrong, and that the rebels were right. Such an attitude is an affront to every loyal white man who fell during the war or who fought for the Union and the cause of freedom. It is amazing that the descendants of these brave men should be so little concerned about matters for which their fathers were willing to lay down their lives. Shame on such descendants!

VII. At the end of these fifty years, in spite of the indifference of the many we still have left, however, a remnant of men and women with the spirit of the old abolitionists—a remnant of men and women who stand squarely, uncompromisingly for the principles of liberty, of equality, of fraternity for all; and who, in one way and another, have shown their sympathy with us in the efforts we are making to develop ourselves and to maintain our rights. The number is small; but small as it is we are thankful for their sympathy and support—thankful to know that we are not left in our weakness to fight our battles alone. It encourages us to know that in the city of Boston, there is an A. E. Pillsbury and a Moorfield Story; in the city of New York, an Oswald Garrison Villard; in the city of Cincinnati, a J. B. Foraker; in the city of Philadelphia, a John Elmer Milholland; in the city of Washington, a Wendell Phillips Stafford; in the city of Chicago, a Jane Addams; in the United States Senate, a Moses E. Clapp. There are others equally worthy of mention who are known to be our friends, our sympathizers, our well-wishers.

8VIII. At the end of these fifty years of freedom, we find ourselves shut out of a great many avenues of employment. There are not many things that we can get to do. This is due mainly to race antipathy, to a 
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