Negroes Organize. Protest Against the Separate Coach Law-Ballot the Remedy.
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Title
Negroes Organize. Protest Against the Separate Coach Law-Ballot the Remedy.
Description
A report on the Texas State Convention held in Houston, TX published in The Daily Herald (May 28, 1895)
Source
Library of Congress, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers site, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86089174/1895-05-28/ed-1/seq-2/.
Publisher
The Daily Herald
Date
1895-05-28
Type
Newspaper article
Scripto
Transcription
[PAGE 1]
THE-DAILY-HERALD. Daily Herald. THE OFFICIAL County COUNTY ORGAN _____________________________ Jesse O. Wheeler. EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. Brownsville, Texas. Issued Every ISSUED EVERY DAY EXCEPT SUNDAY _____________________________ TUESDAY MAY 28, 1895. _____________________________ NEGROES ORGANIZE. ____ Protest Against the Separate Coach Law - Law--Ballot the Remedy. ____ At the State meeting of the colored people of Texas, held here on Thursday, the follow-ing ing address was promulgated: "To the Colored People of Texas.
[PAGE 2]
"We, the undersigned committee appointed by a conference of colored men assembled in Houston, May 23, 1895, desire to call your attention to the conditions which environ our race in this State, and respectfully suggest a remedy. Although loyal citizens of the United States, and citizens and taxpayers of the State of Texas, we are the special target of pernicious class legislation, that is degrading and oppressive - in the extreme. Although machinery for the administration of the law is entirely in the hands of the white race, we are often denied a trial by the forms at law, and permitted by the authorities to be mobbed and lynched on any pretext or charge which may suit the mob, and that in cases where our liberties and property rights are being passed upon by the courts, are systematically and persistently eliminated from jury service, and often suffer grievances and wrongs at the hands of biased and prejudiced jurors, who are often foreigners, newly naturalized, and scarcely able to speak our language.
[PAGE 3]
"But the especial injustice and indignity heaped upon us and which calls loudest for immediate relief, is the abominable separate coach law, which forces us to pay equal fare and does not in the least degree furnish us with equal accommodation on the common carriers of the country. We are cooped up in a small compart-
[PAGE 4]
lot. We urge you to organize in every district, county, city and town and pledge yourselves to support no party, faction or candidate who will not do all he or they can do to give us the same rights and privileges accorded to any other class of citizens, and to favor such legislation as will more securely protect us in our rights, guaranteed by the constitution, if not being deprived of life or liberty without due process of law, and who will see that we are not discriminated against by the judges who will appoint the jury commissioners to select juries for service in the county and district courts."
THE-DAILY-HERALD. Daily Herald. THE OFFICIAL County COUNTY ORGAN _____________________________ Jesse O. Wheeler. EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. Brownsville, Texas. Issued Every ISSUED EVERY DAY EXCEPT SUNDAY _____________________________ TUESDAY MAY 28, 1895. _____________________________ NEGROES ORGANIZE. ____ Protest Against the Separate Coach Law - Law--Ballot the Remedy. ____ At the State meeting of the colored people of Texas, held here on Thursday, the follow-ing ing address was promulgated: "To the Colored People of Texas.
[PAGE 2]
"We, the undersigned committee appointed by a conference of colored men assembled in Houston, May 23, 1895, desire to call your attention to the conditions which environ our race in this State, and respectfully suggest a remedy. Although loyal citizens of the United States, and citizens and taxpayers of the State of Texas, we are the special target of pernicious class legislation, that is degrading and oppressive - in the extreme. Although machinery for the administration of the law is entirely in the hands of the white race, we are often denied a trial by the forms at law, and permitted by the authorities to be mobbed and lynched on any pretext or charge which may suit the mob, and that in cases where our liberties and property rights are being passed upon by the courts, are systematically and persistently eliminated from jury service, and often suffer grievances and wrongs at the hands of biased and prejudiced jurors, who are often foreigners, newly naturalized, and scarcely able to speak our language.
[PAGE 3]
"But the especial injustice and indignity heaped upon us and which calls loudest for immediate relief, is the abominable separate coach law, which forces us to pay equal fare and does not in the least degree furnish us with equal accommodation on the common carriers of the country. We are cooped up in a small compart-
[PAGE 4]
lot. We urge you to organize in every district, county, city and town and pledge yourselves to support no party, faction or candidate who will not do all he or they can do to give us the same rights and privileges accorded to any other class of citizens, and to favor such legislation as will more securely protect us in our rights, guaranteed by the constitution, if not being deprived of life or liberty without due process of law, and who will see that we are not discriminated against by the judges who will appoint the jury commissioners to select juries for service in the county and district courts."
Convention Minutes Item Type Metadata
Contributor
This transcription is the combination of work from more than 4,500 people who volunteered during the 2022 celebration of Douglass Day, held in partnership with Zooniverse.
Event ID
1895.TX-05.23.HOUS
Citation
“Negroes Organize. Protest Against the Separate Coach Law-Ballot the Remedy.,” Colored Conventions Project Digital Records, accessed October 22, 2026, https://omeka.coloredconventions.org/items/show/1598.