The oldest traditions lead us to believe that blacks were the first inhabitants of Mexico.

The New York World, dated January 15, 1923, published a statement by Drs. Clark Wissler and Franz Boaz (the latter a professor of anthropology at Columbia University), confirming the assertion of the French that the Moroccan and Algerian troops used in the invasion of Germany were not to be classified as negroes, because they were not of that race. It is wonderful to understand how the French and these gentlemen arrive at such a conclusion, but I believe that it is the old method of depriving the negro of anything that would tend to make him recognizable in any useful occupation or pursuit.

The custom of these anthropologists is that whenever a black man, whether Moroccan, Algerian, Senegalese, or any other, achieves anything of importance, he is no longer a negro. The question therefore arises, “Who and what is a negro?” The answer is, “A negro is a person of dark complexion or race, who has achieved nothing and to whom others are not obliged to render any useful service.” If France did not need the Moroccans and Algerians at that time to increase her occupation of Germany or to save the French nation from extinction, they would have called them negroes, as usual, but now that they have become useful to the higher appreciation of France they are no longer members of the negro race, but may be classed among a higher type, as the two above-mentioned professors assert. Whether these professors or France wish to make the Moroccans distinct from the Negroes, we are satisfied that their earlier propaganda has made these people understand that their fate is linked to that of all other colored men throughout the world, and now that the hundreds of millions of darker peoples look toward a union and a common destiny through the effort of universal cooperation, we do not fear that the Moroccans and Algerians will concern themselves with the situation in France and Germany, peculiar to the interests of Negroes throughout the world.

Let us not be flattered by white anthropologists and statesmen who, from time to time, because of our success here, there or elsewhere, try to make it seem that we are no longer members of the Negro race. If we were Negroes when we were under the weight of oppression, then we shall be Negroes when we are on our feet and freed from such bondage.

The Moroccans and the Algerians have a splendid opportunity to demonstrate the true value of the Negro in Europe, and who is to tell them that one day Africa will colonize Europe, even though Europe has been trying to colonize the world for hundreds of years.

BLACKS STRIPPED OF THEIR HISTORY

The white world has always tried to rob us and discredit us of our history. We are told that Tut-Ankh-Amun, a king of Egypt, who reigned about 1350 B.C. (Before Christ), was not negro, that the ancient civilization of Egypt and the Pharaohs were not of our race, but that does not make the truth unreal. Every student of history, of an unbiased mind, knows that the negro once ruled the world, when white men were savages and barbarians living in caves; that thousands of negro professors in that age taught in the universities of Alexandria, then the seat of learning; that ancient Egypt gave the world civilization and that Greece and Rome have stripped Egypt of its arts and letters, and taken all the credit for themselves. It is not surprising, however, that white men resort to every means to keep the negroes in ignorance of their history; It would be a great shock to your pride to admit to the world today that 3,000 years ago black men excelled in government and were the founders and teachers of art, science, and literature. The power and influence we once had are gone, but now, in the twentieth century, we are about to see them return in the rebuilding of Africa; yes, a new civilization, a new culture will arise among our people, and the Nile will flow once more through the land of science, art, and literature, where there will live black men of the highest culture and of the highest achievements.

Professor George A. Kersnor, head of the Harvard-Boston expedition to the Egyptian Sudan, returned to America early in 1923 and after describing the genius of the Ethiopians and their high culture during the period from 750 B.C. to A.D. 350 in mid-1923, Africa, declared, the Ethiopians were not African Negroes. He described them as dark-colored races…showing an admixture of negro blood. Imagine a dark-colored man in central Africa being anything but negro. Some white men, whether professors or not, certainly have a great imagination. The above statements by professors support throughout my contention that the prejudice against us as negroes is not due to color, but to our condition. If negro men throughout the world as a race become so independent and useful as to be sought out by other racial groups, it will simply mean that all racial problems will be shattered and the negro will be regarded like any other person. a man worthy of respect and admiration.