Wisdom of James K. Vardaman

Wisdom of James K. Vardaman

Thomas Allen

[Editor’s note: This article was submitted in 1998 to the “Southern National Newsletter” of the Southern National Party.]

James K. Vardaman was a political leader in Mississippi during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He was a governor and a senator during this time. He believed that the races should be separated. Blacks should be trained in useful trades so that when they were repatriated, they could support themselves in their homeland. However, in the interim, he opposed allowing them to govern, yet he did not oppose allowing them to vote provided they met the same high standards required of White voters of that time. He also opposed social integration of the races, which would lead to interracial marriages, which he also adamantly opposed. The following are some interesting exerts from part of his biography, Chapter Number Six, The Race Question from The White Chief; A Story of the Life and Times of James K. Vardaman by Archibald Goody IV (Jackson, Mississippi, 1944). Little has changed in the fifty years [now 75 years] since these words were written or in the hundred years since Vardaman’s time.

“The cause of the intolerably bad government of the negro was his incompetence, not his dishonesty. It demonstrates that political power in the hands of the ignorant or the indifferent brings as bad results as if in the hands of the corrupt. There are always at hand those who prey upon and profit by ignorance or indifference. The negro was taught that he could earn a living by voting and holding office, rather than by honest toil. Hence, he expected to barter his vote for the things which are ours only by work. He was given the worst possible conception of the privilege of the ballot, and this bad conception persists even unto this day. It was easy for the negro to reason that, since the white man was better off than the negro and could vote, the vote was the cause of the favorable circumstance. And he still relies upon this simple syllogism.” (p. 58)

“For seventy-five years there has been no variation in the plea for the negro. He has been taught, systematically and with malice aforethought, that he was oppressed, denied his ‘rights,’ refused opportunity, robbed of the product of his labor, and generally mistreated. He has not been taught that man must work for his place in the sun and obtain the treasures of life by industry, frugality, self-denial and a rigorous self-discipline. The price of success is ‘sweat, toil, blood and tears.’ It may well be doubted that ‘heaven is had for the asking.’ He needs to be told to correct his own moral delinquencies, apply himself assiduously to the task he has to do, and find in himself the courage and the fortitude to meet the duties and responsibilities of life. His formula for success is the same as that of other men. ‘Responsibility is the price of greatness.’” (p. 61)

“The negro may qualify as an elector under the same terms as the white man. It is merely a question of possessing the qualifications, paying all taxes, and registering. Mississippi has no ‘grandfather clause.’ All white voters have complied with every law and obligation imposed on the negro. No more, no less. But the negro’s spokesmen demand the standard be lowered to the level of the negro, instead of the negro rising to the standard.” (p. 67) (Today, we have lowered the standard to the Negro’s level instead of the Negro rising to the standard of the White man.)

“Against the Bill of Compliant, suppose we examine the advantages enjoyed by the American negro. He is in one of the great nations of the earth, and enjoys without cost or effort on his part, all essential privileges of a free people; privileges developed by the white man and requiring thousands of years of labor and sacrifice. The only price exacted of the negro was a short period of slavery, a period of time but a tick of the clock in human history.” (p. 73)

“In marriage of black and white, upon whose past do we build? Sleswick or the Congo? Of what history would the child be proud? To whom would homage be paid? To what ideals would its allegiance be given? A marriage between white persons, one an American and one, say a German, poses a problem of loyalty. The child has two great traditions of culture and achievement, but it must and will believe in one more, than in the other. But it is a problem only of present and surface emotions and psychology. The problem of the mulatto is infinitely greater because he combines two diverse and irreconcilable traditions. Loyalty to one means repudiation of the others. He is at home with neither the white nor the black. Unable to be true to either parent, he cannot be true to self. These and other conditions needless to mention, are sufficient to show the utter futility of any plan of social equality. For social equality is worse than a farce if we draw the line at marriage — it ceases to have meaning.” (p. 85) (Today we have answered these questions. The answer is the Congo — not only for mulattos, but also for Whites.)

“The one and only solution of the race question which confronts the South is complete separation, and that is the physical removal of the negro to a country of his own. Less than this is not a solution, but an armed truce. All have overlooked, or ignored, this elemental proposition.” (p. 89)

“The only sensible end our race problem can have is to transport the negro to another continent. If he remains, and he will, hybridism is certain. Social and political separation, and other devices may delay, but not prevent it. Popular government makes the removal of ten million people an impossibility, for the simple reason a majority are indifferent to the result, and could not be persuaded to embark upon so large an enterprise. Only a very few will put forth great effort for the ideal, or to meet a future danger.”

“The removal of the negro, is the only escape from ultimate amalgamation, and that, as stated, will not be undertaken. Too many desire to use the negro for their profit. Employers need his labor; ‘ring’ politicians need his vote; fanatic friends need him as a subject to ‘uplift’; and his own self-appointed leaders look to their own welfare and security. It is passing strange that no one seems interested in the genuine welfare of the black man, although he is the leading figure in the drama. His zealous advocates have failed to consult those negro leaders who are qualified to speak for their people and to express their wishes.” (pp. 100-101)

[Unfortunately, Vardaman’s advice and recommendations have not only been ignored but have been vigorously attacked. Consequently, both Blacks and Whites have needlessly suffered, and the country is rapidly deteriorating to a third world country where Whites have shrunken from about 90 percent to about 60 percent of the population. Worst of all is that Whites have been taught to hate themselves and their culture and civilization. Moreover, most of these self-hating Whites look forward with joy to the complete genocide of the White race and Western civilization.]

Copyright © 1998, 2021 by Thomas Coley Allen.

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