The voice of the Negro 1919

:
The South and the Negro 145
part of the population and business competition is so strong
and conditions so unfavorable that the chances for success in
any commercial line are very poor compared with the basis
of patronage that the Negro business man has in the South.
"This new appeal to the Negro who has gone North from
the South, also emphasizes a land of beauty, mild climate and
comparatively cheap living. The short winters, the balmy air,
the easily secured products from the field, the rivers and the
forests are all temptations that naturally lead the colored
migrant to put his foot in the path that will lead towards
the old home and the plantation.
"Never before has such an appeal been made to the Negro
by the leading men and the leading influence of the South.
The very fact that they urge the Negro to return is significant.
The South is consistent in this matter. It is opposed to his
leaving. It favors his coming back. There are no lavish
promises of conditions or compensation, but every one must
realize that wages are better in the South now than at any
time for both black and white. The Negro who returns will
find wages better than when he left. More money is being
put into Negro schools in the South than ever before, and
even the millionaires of the North who give thousands of
dollars for Negro education seem inclined to spend it at Hampton,
Tuskegee and other schools for the race in the South.
"The Negro who returns will find his people making progress
in the South. He will find more Negro banks, insurance
companies, real estate firms and other enterprises than at any
other time in the history of the race.
"Such is the call of the South to the Negro who has gone
North. Will he come back? If not, why not?"
The August number of The Challenge Magazine (Chicago),
which under its title bears this legend: it fears only God:
contained the following as its leading editorial
"American
Huns
The very worst German Hun cannot be so vile, inhuman,
fcontaminative of every civilized instinct as the Huns of
America who delight in standing with their families, children
included, over the burning, stinking flesh of Negro men tied
to trees or in public squares; or as those midnight devils that