State

THE STATE Page Eleven January 5, 1935 The “Red-Shirt” Campaign THOSE were strenuous days — some 35 years ago — in North Carolina politics. None of the old-timers who went through that hectic era can ever forget the exciting events which took place. IT was asserted during the “White Supremacy” — the Red Shirt — campaign in North Carolina in 1898 — that the negro would he eliminated as a political fac¬ tor there. Former Senator F. M. Simmons, who con¬ ducted that battle of speeches and ballots ; the late Governor Charles B. Aycock, chief stumper; James H. Pou, wise adviser ; Clement Manly, Robert B. Glenn, and others promised there would be no more negro domina¬ tion, and expressed the hope that race antagonism would die out. At the be¬ ginning of that hitter political season in the state some of the eastern counties were in control of colored officials. Wilmington and other fair cities had negro magistrates, and negro policemen, some of whom were impudent and arrogant. A large majority of the whites were indignant and threaten¬ ing. Trouble brewed in many com¬ munities. Democratic leaders and workers were discouraged; a coalition of Republicans, Populists and negroes had ousted them, and was riding rough¬ shod. Plenty of Excitement In 1896, the year Judge Daniel L. Russell of Wilmington, was elected gov¬ ernor, there were fistfights in scores of local and congressional district conven¬ tions. A rising tide of colored voters overwhelmed their white allies. George H. White, negro lawyer of Tarboro, was elected to Congress. William W. Kitchin was the only Democrat sent to the House from the state. All efforts of Republicans and Populists to curb the ambitious blacks were futile. At Maxton, where delegates from the old shoestring district met to nominate a candidate for Congress, a regular knock-down-and-drag-out battle took place over the election of the conven¬ tion chairman. Oliver H. Dockery, known as the Republican “war horse of the Peedee,” was a candidate for gov¬ ernor. His opponent was Mr. Russell. Both lived in that district. The man who controlled that convention would have the advantage in the coming state convention. The Dockeryites nominated A. M. Long, of Rockingham, for chairman; and the Russellites named a large, pow¬ erfully built negro of Wilmington. Delegates and other partisans started a By H. E. C. BRYANT riot in the hall, and extended it to the rostrum As fast as the candidates took the chairs they were unseated by force. Finally Mr. Long pulled out a revolver, and ordered the mob to retire from the stage. But the contest waxed warmer until a tall, black ditch-hand, in over¬ alls and boots, climbed up, drew a razor from his hoot, and announced he would take pleasure in clearing the stand for his friend “Mr. Duckery.” His arrival was followed by a heavy exodus of Rus¬ sell supporters, who not only bolted the rostrum — some through the windows, and others down the tramway — but also left the convention, leaving the Dockery forces in charge. No Place for a Cripple As the Russell supporters left, some of them at top speed, a well-known moss-backed Republican, with a broken arm, who was standing on the sidewalk, peering up the tramway leading to the convention hall, remarked: “I shan’t go up there ; that is no place for a well man, much less a cripple,” and he was right. The result of that convention did not prove fatal to Mr. Russell, as he won at Raleigh. At Tarboro, two years later, the negro made his last stand. Lee Persons, a colored member of the North Carolina legislature, and a rival aspirant for leadership, staged a fierce show-down for control. The Edgecombe County court house was full of fighting negroes that day. Persons, a man of real ability and force, was stripped of his trousers and tossed out of a window. These and other unseemly contests were used by the Democrats in their campaign for a come-back. Soon the negro was on the run, and Chairman Simmons of the State Democratic com¬ mittee was in control. Mr. Simmons, at that time, was not known in the western part of the state. Very few people in the Piedmont or West had seen him, but his thunderous roars against the Fusionists sounded like the helchings of a lion. I recall that my first impression of him, long before I had seen him, was that of a giant, towering above his brothers. How wrong I was ! Mr. Simmons is a small man, mild man¬ nered, and sweet natured until aroused. The biggest thing about him is his brain, where the Red Shirt potency came from. The Worm Had Turned Many negro politicians realized that the worm had turned, and they should retire. A few, with more daring than judgment — like those who started the Wilmington riot, in which many were killed — could not quit gracefully. But one Maxton negro, a cunning fellow, named Wesley McNeill, returned to his little butcher shop, and watched the battle from a safe distance. He could see farther than some of his friends with whom he had worked in previous years. In 1896 he had been very active, and had helped the negro movement along. His town was full of Red Shirts in 1898, and he read the minds of his white neighbors. A white friend of his, the late Ed McRae, an enthusiastic Democrat, passing his shop, stopped to inquire about his inactivity. “Why, Wesley, is it you are taking no part in the great political fight this year ?” he asked. “Why, boss, de horn’s done blowed, an’ I heered it; de white folks is at de bat.” said he. The Grandfather Clause The North Carolina negro politicians had a brief and spotted spell of domi¬ nation, until the Constitutional amend¬ ment, with the grandfather clause, barred them. Congressman White went to New York to practice law. Lee Per¬ sons and others came to Washington. White Republican leaders discouraged them; they did not want them in their conventions. The Republican party grew rapidly after the negro was disfranchised. Now, it is said, just a handful of negroes, who can meet the educational requirements, vote in the state. Re¬ publican leaders boast that not one has been a delegate to a state convention in ( Continued on page twenty-six )