RIGHT THINKING THE CHIEF FACTOR IN THE
                ADVANCEMENT OF A RACE.

 [This was the commencement address at Prairie View State Normal
College, Prairie View, Texas, May 1898. Three considerations move me
to submit it for publication now: 1. The many requests for its publica-
tion and the differences of opinion among my friends as to what was ac-
tually said. 2. It was a manuscript address and I find upon re-reading it
my views have not changed. 3. An educational topic is timely at the
opening of our schools.-C. V. R.]
                        INTRODUCTION.
  I never see a commencement exercise--behold the triumphs of
the graduates and the glad countenances of their admirers--
listen to the well-rounded periods and mellifluent sentences
of oracular wisdom as expounded by the successful candidates
for diplomas, I never, I say, look upon one of these scenes of
joy and hope, aspiration and congratulation, enthusiasm and
satisfaction but I think of the Fairy Tale--King Midas, or
The Golden Touch. You have all read it. How the fairy
came and told him to make a wish, saying whatever his wish,
it would be granted at the rising of the morrow's sun. How he
wished that everything he touched would turn to gold. And
how he came to grief. A commencement exercise makes me
long for the opportunity King Midas had. If I had the chance
do you know what my wish would be? I would wish for the
world to be as it appears to the average graduate the day he
receives his diploma. But alas! it cannot be.
   When I first visited Nashville, Tennessee, I went up into the
top of the Capitol and "viewed the landscape o'er." Fisk Uni-
versity attracted my attention and I determined to spend a
pleasant evening there. But the day was hot and the dust was
thick and I missed my way-not reaching the University until
it was too late to visit. However, I was not sorry, for I was
                        (567)




			

OHS/National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center Serial Collection

African Methodist Episcopal Church Review, Vol. 28, Num. 2

Volume:  28
Issue Number:  02
Date:  10/1911