This question was asked me by one who sincerely wanted to know our reaction to our appellation. We are truly American citizens, but for the purpose of distinction a more specific classification is necessary. What we are to be called cannot be decided by printer's ink alone. Similar to all races in every land we have our classes, and I believed the well-informed student of negro history, and the careful observer of present negro life will admit of distinct classes. What we are to be called is not a problem settled by written desire, neither is the answer brought about by verbal showmanship. According to classification we are either negro or colored and a thesis that contends the contrary would be no more effective than a June bug buzzing around the head of an Arkansas plow mule.

So far, we understand that we are to be called precisely what we are. Students of both races, who have concerned themselves with the study of the negro, agree that one possessed of sincere race pride and inwardly anxious for race settlement wants to be called a negro. Blood percentage and physical characteristics cannot be considered, wholly. Such methods would cause complications too dense for even a dream of apprehension. So when the urge is most prevalent to ask for a name, we may safely ignore pen and paper and the cute quotations that such inspire; for what we are to be called is a question to be answered by self, and determined by an entire life.