History of the American Negro in the Great World War | Page 5

rattle
of small arms, the groans of the wounded and dying, you hear the shout
of one, as shattered and maimed he is being borne from the field;
"BOYS, THE OLD FLAG NEVER TOUCHED THE GROUND!"
* * * * *
THE SCENE SHIFTS--
Fifty years have passed. You hear the clamor, the murmur and shouts
of gathering mobs. You see Black men and women hanging by their
necks to lamp posts, from the limbs of trees; in lonely spots--DEAD!

You see smoke curling upwards from BURNING HOMES! There are
piles of cinders and--DEAD MENS BONES!
* * * * *
NEARING ITS END--
The procession sweeps on. Staring you in the face; hailing from East,
West, North and South are banners; held aloft by unseen hands, bearing
on them--the quintessence of AMERICA'S INGRATITUDE,--these
devices:
"For American Negroes: JIM CROW steam and trolley cars; JIM
CROW resident districts; JIM CROW amen corners; JIM CROW seats
in theatres; JIM CROW corners in cemeteries."
YOU MUTTER--
"Are these indignities to CONTINUE? Is God DEAD?"
* * * * *
COMES--
A voice. You listen!
"WHEREFORE hear the word of the lord-- "THE days of thy mourning
shall be ended-- "VIOLENCE shall no more be heard in the land--
"NEITHER sorrow nor crying-- "FOR the former things have passed
away-- "BEHOLD I make all things new-- "ARISE, shine; for thy light
has come.
* * * * *
HEREIN--
Lies the strength and worth of this unusual book, well and deservingly
named: A History of the American Negro in the Great World War.
Beyond merely recounting that story; than which there has been

nothing finer or more inspiring since the long away centuries when the
chivalry of the Middle Ages, in nodding plume and lance in rest,
battled for the Holy Sepulchre, it brings to the Negro of America a
message of cheer and reassurance. A sign, couched in flaming
characters for all men to see, appealing to the spiritualized divination of
the age, proclaiming that God is NOT DEAD! That a NEW day is
dawning; HAS dawned for the Negro in America. A NEW liberty;
broader and BETTER. A NEW Justice, unshaded by the spectre of:
"Previous condition!" That the unpaid toil of thirty decades of African
slavery in America is at last to be liquidated. That the dead of our
people, upon behalf of this land that it might have a BIRTH, and
having it might not PERISH FROM THE EARTH, did not die in vain.
That, in their passage from earth, heroes--MARTYRS--in a superlative
sense they were seen and marked of the Father; were accorded a place
of record in the pages of the great WHITE BOOK with golden seals, in
the up worlds; above the stars and beyond the flaming suns.
IT IS A HISTORY--
That will be read with instruction and benefit by thousands of whites,
but, and mark well this suggestion, it is one that should be OWNED
AND BEAD BY EVERY NEGRO IN THE LAND.
* * * * *
TYPOGRAPHICALLY--
Mechanically; that is to say, in those features that reflect the finished
artistic achievement of the Print, Picture and Binding art; as seen in the
bold clear type of its text, its striking and beautiful illustrations, its
illuminating title heads of division and chapter; indicating at a glance
the information to follow; the whole appealing to the aesthetic; the
sticklers for the rare and beautiful; not overlooking its superb binding,
it is most pleasing to the sight, and worthy of the title it bears.
[Illustration: signature]
HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NEGRO IN THE GREAT WORLD

WAR
CHAPTER I.
SPIRITUAL EMANCIPATION OF NATIONS.
THE MARCH OF CIVILIZATION--WORLD SHOCKS TO STIR
THE WORLD HEART--FALSE DOCTRINES OF THE HUN--THE
IRON HAND CONCEALED--THE WOBLD BEGINS TO
AWAKEN--GERMAN DESIGNS REVEALED--RUMBLINGS IN
ADVANCE OF THE STORM--TRAGEDY THAT HASTENED THE
DAY--TOLSTOY'S PROPHECY--VINDICATION OF NEGRO
FAITH IN PROMISES OF THE LORD--DAWN OF FREEDOM FOR
ALL RACES.
The march of civilization is attended by strange influences. Providence
which directs the advancement of mankind, moves in such mysterious
ways that none can sense its design or reason out its import. Frequently
the forces of evil are turned to account in defeating their own objects.
Great tragedies, cruel wars, cataclysms of woe, have acted as
enlightening and refining agents. Out of the famines of the past came
experiences which inculcated the thrift and fore-handedness of today.
Out of man's sufferings have come knowledge and fortitude. Out of
pain and tribulation, the attribute of sympathy--the first spiritual
manifestation instrumental in elevating the human above the beast.
Things worth while are never obtained without payment of some kind.
Individual shocks stir the individual heart and conscience. Great world
shocks are necessary to stir the world conscience and heart; to start
those movements to right the wrongs in the world. So long