The Muskogee Cimeter
September 20, 1906
Resolutions Passed by
Negro Protective League,
State of Oklahoma
The Inter-Territorial Negro Protective League convention, in session assembled, declare the following resolutions:
Whereas, we comprehend the interests of 200,000 human souls, representing the greatest number of individual land owners of our race in any commonwealth of the United States, whose interest locally and otherwise are so pronounced,
Resolved, that we co-operate in the furtherance of the doctrine of Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States, in that he believes in “All men up and no men down, and a square deal for every man”, as the broad, intelligent view of American citizenship and as the only basic doctrine acceptable and capable of being entertained by righteous acting and fair thinking men.
Resolved, that it is the sense of this organization that the best interests of the negro race demand that a system of public schools be inaugurated in the new state whereby the education of the negro youth of the state will be in the control of the negroes thereof, and while we oppose class legislation, we feel it is to our best interests to maintain separate, non-sectarian schools for the races.
Resolved, that we pledge ourselves to the support of every delegate or representative upon a platform maintaining and enforcing a constitution embodying all those principles which stand for every man and his interests alike, which will deprive no man of the right to vote on account of his race, color, or previous condition of servitude and we oppose any property or educational test for voting and we favor provisions which will secure to every man equal civil and political right within the sprit and meaning of the broadest interpretation of the constitution of the United States.
We commend the action of the 59th congress in making the 40-acre of acreage allotment land of the freedman of the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribe of Indians inalienable for 21 years.
We favor the removal of the restrictions from the surplus lands of the citizens of the five civilized tribes as for the best interest for all people of the new state.
We recommend the organization of leagues or local clubs in communities wherein the negro resides and the establishment of a ready medium of communication in a centralized system of our organization.
Resolved, that we urge our people to secure homes and lands, that we educate and prepare ourselves for a higher citizenship in the new state, that we do not sell our lands and that those who do not own homes be advised to save their earnings and purchase a home and strive to have a bank account.
Resolved, that we encourage persons of our race who are engaged in commercial enterprises and recommend such persons be patronized by the race.
Resolved, that the name of this organization shall be the Negro Protective League of the State of Oklahoma, and that the object of the organization shall be the promotion of the intellectual, financial, and political interest of the negroes of the State of Oklahoma.
That we are unalterably opposed to lynch law, but we favor the suppression of crime. That we favor a fair and impartial trial of all persons charged with crime before a jury of their peers.
J.Coody Johnson
G.W. P. Sawyer
W.H. Twine
E.E. McDaniel
Hayne Manzella
Allen Mack
Geo. Fitzpatrick
John Lampton
S.T. Wiggins
L.A. Bell
Committees on Resolutions
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