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38 THE ATHENAEUM the Negro shut himself in. Thus the Negro isolated himself during the commercial revolution and began to retrograde. Retrogression follows ever in the path of isolation, for progress can only be made through an interchange of ideas. The Negro thus isolated took no part in the Intellectual revolution which swept over Western Europe. The European, becoming stronger while the Negro was becoming weaker through isolation, took advantage of this situation to exploit and enslave the Negro. The increase in general knowledge during the latter part of the Intellectual revolution was about to bring free dom to the Negro when the invention of the cotton gin with the coming of the Industrial revolution tightened his chains. The Social revolution has brought him' a measure of freedom. We are still liv ing in the period of the social revolution. Who can tell what will be the Negro’s position and contribution to world progress during this period? During the afternoon there was a round table discussion opened by Prof. W. J. King on “How to inculcate an appreciation of ^ Negro history and get such a course in the curricula of the. schools.” The ignorance of the Negro concerning his own history was brought out and it was urged that efforts be made to have instituted in all Negro schools from the grades to the university a course in Negro history. Wednesday evening Pres. C. B. Antisdel of Benedict spoke on “The White Teachers contribution to Racial Understanding in the Colored Schools.” He emphasized the sacrificial spirit of the whites of the North who took up the burden of educating Negroes immedi ately after the Civil War. He said it would be better for racial un derstanding if the white teachers who love the Negro should keep their positions. True it is that in building the superstructure of our race we should get everything from everybody we can; but it is our opinion that the white teachers should be replaced by Negroes as rapidly as they become efficient and competent to do the work, for they alone understand the young Negro well enough to eject into him race pride sufficient to give him courage to do a real man’s work in the world. Rev. L. O. Lewis, who spoke on “The Minister as a Factor in Inter-Racial Adjustment,” discussed the early law in America that no Christian could be a slave and its repeal with the new interpreta tion that to be a Christian meant freedom of the soul, not of the body. After the invention of the cotton gin Christian teachers were eliminated from among the slaves and the church of God became the bulwark of slavery, searching out and integrating every passage that could be perverted to supDort that inhuman institution. In our times the inter-racial commission which is sponsored by the church is seeking a gradual solution of today’s problems through conference and co-operation. Under the caption, “Social Work in Race Relations,” Prof. E. F. Frazier said that the three factors in the social progress, not of our {Subscribe to The Athenaeum!