Tekst 18: Henry McNeal Turner: I Claim the Rights of a Man, 1868
Henry McNeal Turner (1834-1915) holdt talen I Claim the Right of a Man til Georgias statslovgivere den 3. september 1868. Turner var biskop og valgt ind i Georgias statslovgivning. Han var født fri i 1834 i South Carolina. Han holdt talen til de hvide konservative demokrater, der ønskede at stemme for at bortvise de afroamerikanske folkevalgte, da man argumenterede for, at den amerikanske forfatning ikke havde nogen specifik bestemmelse, der garanterede afroamerikanernes ret til at besidde et offentligt embede.
Fra: The Will of a People. A Critical Anthology of Great African American Speeches, Southern Illinois University Press, s. 94-95.
The great question, sir, is this: Am I a man? If I am such, I claim the rights of a man. Am I not a man, because I happen to be of a darker hue than honorable gentlemen around me? Let me see whether I am or not. I want to convince the House, today, that I am entitled to my seat here. A certain gentleman has argued that the Negro was a mere development similar to the ourang-outang or chimpanzee, but it so happens that, when a Negro is examined, physiologically, phrenologically1 and anatomically, and, I may say, physiognomically2, he is found to be the same as persons of different color. I would like to ask any gentleman on this floor, where is the analogy? Do you find me a quadruped, or do you find me a man? Do you find three bones less in my back than in that of the white man? Do you find less organs in the brain? If you know nothing of this, I do; for I have helped to dissect fifty men, black and white, and I assert that by the time you take off the mucous pigment – the color of the skin – you cannot, to save your life, distinguish between the black man and the white. Am I a man? Have I a soul to save, as you have? Am I susceptible of eternal development, as you are? Can I learn all the arts and sciences that you can – has it ever been demonstrated in the history of the world? Have black men ever exhibited bravery, as white men have done? Have they ever been in the professions! Have they not as good articulative organs as you? Some people argue that there is a very close similarity between the larynx of the Negro and the larynx of the ourang-outang. Why, sir, there is not so much similarity between them as there is between the larynx of the man and that of the dog, and this fact I dare any Member of this House to dispute. God saw fit to vary everything in nature. There are no two men alike – no two voices alike – no two trees alike. God has weaved and tissued variety and versatility throughout the boundless space of his creation. Because God saw fit to make some red, and some white, and some black, and some brown, are we to sit here in judgment upon what God has seen fit to do? As well might one play with the thunderbolts of heaven as with that creature that bears God’s image – God’s photograph.
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1 Phrenology (antiquated): The study of the physical aspects of the brain.
2 Physignomony: Related to the study of physique.
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