Those who remained at home during the war realize fully that the patriotic service rendered by colored persons in civil life, both in doing war work and in the purchase of Liberty Bonds and War Savings Stamps is to be commended.

Surely after the many demonstrations of patriotism both on the battlefield and at home the white people of this country will be willing to accord the colored people a square deal by at least giving them a fair opportunity to earn a livelihood in accordance with their ability.

We have been asking the impossible of the colored man and the colored woman.  We have demanded that they be honest, self-respecting citizens, and at the same time we have forced them into surroundings which almost make this result impossible.  In many places they are deprived of a fair opportunity to obtain education or amusement in a decent environment.  Only the most menial positions are offered them.  An educated girl particularly has practically no opportunity to earn a livelihood in the manner for which her education fits her.

We whites of America must begin to realize that Booker T. Washington was right when he said it was impossible to hold a man in the gutter without staying there with him, because “if you get up, he will get up.”  We do not want to remain in the gutter.  We, therefore, must help the Negro to rise.

If we are to obtain the best results from colored labor, unions should admit it to their membership.  It is not the universal practice to admit colored persons to unions.  The result, of course, is that even if a colored man has the opportunity to learn a trade, knowing he will not be permitted to enjoy the benefits of a union, he does not have the highest incentive for learning it.  The north is especially neglectful in not providing openings for the colored men in trades.  In the south it is not unusual to see a colored brick-mason working alongside a white brick-mason.  But in the north the best a colored man can hope for on a building job now is a position as a hod-carrier or mortar-mixer.

When the alien arrives in this country, he is given opportunity for virtually every kind of employment.  But the colored man who is born in the United States, and, therefore, should share in its opportunities, is not given as fair a chance as the alien worker.

Naturally, we cannot hope that these conditions will be remedied in a day or a month nor can the colored man expect that the millennium will come to him through the action of white people alone.  He can improve his chances of securing greater rights and opportunities in the United States, if he will make the most of the limited opportunities now afforded him.  He who does the best he can with the tools he has at hand is bound in time to demand by his good work better tools for the performance of more important and profitable duties.  The conviction is general that “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.”