A Black Richard in the Field.
Editor of Weekly Leader –
DEAR SIR: You will please announce my name through your valuable journal, as a candidate for Congress from this, the sixth Congressional District – subject to the action of the people at the ballot-box.
Very respectfully,
RICHARD GRIGGS.
Richard is just waking from the nap he has been taking since the Legislature bounced him out of the immigration agency; after the “people at the ballot-box” have acted on his case, he will go sleep again. [Greenville Times.
The day has passed when a negro was elected to office simply because he was a member of that race. Richard embodies the qualifications that were formerly considered necessary, in an eminent degree; his face is so black that it fairly shines, and brings out in bright contrast the ivories which are plainly visible owing to the fact – in the words of the song – that “his wool it curls so very tight, he cannot shut his mouf.” These elements of statesmanship – black skin, white teeth, and kinky hair – fortunately are no longer considered absolutely necessary in a candidate for Congress, and if Richard has any others we are not aware of them. If there is any lingering prejudice in favor of color, it will be satisfied by Gen. Chalmers, for when he gets through with his canvass he will probably be tanned and sun-burned sufficiently to receive the almost unanimous vote of both races. When Griggs was a member of the Legislature, he was noted for “moving the previous question,” and although reluctant to do so, we feel it to be our duty now to inform him that he will never “move de prevyus questyun” in Congress.