Some reverend colored man was re
cently made a suffragan bishop of the
Protestant Episcopal Church. A suf
fragan is simply an assistant bishop
and he can only assist the presiding
bishop of the diocese by doing what
he is ordered to do, and in this par
ticular case, only among the particu
lar class of people he is ordered to
serve. Thus he is a segregated rub
ber stamp who must follow the whims
and caprices of his master, the white
bishop, and he has no vote in the con
vention.
For many years some jimcrow Epis
copal ministers have endeavored to
have a jimcrow bishop appointed. The
intelligent colored people were op
posed to it and protested to the Gen
eral Convention of the Church against
the infamy of a color line in the
church of God.
The plan was thwarted for a while,
but when a jimcrow "negro" makes
up his mind to do something which
will lower himself and his race in the
eyes of the public, he can invariably
count on the assistance of his white
friends who will go the limit to
aid him. Finally the jimcrow won
and it was decided that jimcrowism
was the proper thing. One ol the
jobs was offered to Rev. James S. Rus
sell of Virginia, but he declined to be
a segregated bishop.
Some papers are boasting about the
matter but it is nothing to be proud
of. The heads of the church who
have demonstrated that they have no
right to be called Christian and theor
man who accepted the place ought to
hang their heads in shame.
