In 1916 Hughes received
120,000 votes as against 168,000 for Wilson.
What was done with the negro when he was thus rendered politically
helpless? Was there an attempt to take from him other things than the
ballot? The answer must be in the affirmative. Men advocated segregation
in common carriers, in public places, and even in places of residences.
An attempt to confine appropriations for negro schools to the amount of
taxes directly paid by the negroes has been made; men have sought office
on a platform of practical serfdom for the negro. But although some few
have achieved temporary successes--at least they have been
elected--their programs have not been carried out. The "Jim Crow" car is
common and the negro schools do not get appropriations equal to those of
the whites, but little else has been done. In fact, evidences of a
reaction in favor of the negro soon became apparent. The late Governor
Charles B. Aycock of North Carolina at the beginning of this century won
his triumphs on a platform of justice for the negro.
The question of the liquor traffic began to engage the attention of the
Southern people very soon after the end of Reconstruction. The great
problem was the sale of liquor in the unpoliced country districts, and
especially to negroes. By special legislative acts forbidding the sale
of liquor within a given number of miles of a church or a school a large
part of the South was made dry.
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