Page:A pilgrimage to my motherland.djvu/39

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A PILGRIMAGE

a matter respecting which there has hitherto been some misconception. It has been asserted that the native African does not manifest under any circumstance the same deference for colored men, as he does for white men; and so fully is this believed, particularly in the United States, that both my colleague Dr. Delany and myself were frequently cautioned respecting the danger to which we should be exposed in consequence of our complexion. It is indeed true that more respect has been accorded to white men, on account of their superior learning and intelligence, than to the generality of semi-civilized black men from the Brazils and other places, who now live in the Aku country; but it is a great mistake to think that the same is withheld from colored men similarly endowed with their white brethren. Let any disinterested person visiting Abbeokuta, place himself in a position to notice the manner in which such a person, for instance, as the Reverend Samuel Crowther, or even his son of the same name, each a pure Negro, is treated, and he would soon perceive the profound respect with which Africans treat those of their own race worthy of it. The white man who supposes himself respected in Africa, merely because he is white, is grievously mistaken. I have had opportunities to know, that if he should, presuming on his complexion, disregard propriety in his bearing