Maybe we does, suh," he said,
lapsing in his earnestness, into bad grammar, "maybe we does
sometimes, but not without reason."
"What reason?" asked the colonel.
"Well, sir, fer the reason that we ain't always shore that a coloured
man will get a fair trial, or any trial at all, or that he'll get a
just sentence after he's been tried. We have no hand in makin' the
laws, or in enforcin' 'em; we are not summoned on jury; and yet we're
asked to do the work of constables and sheriffs who are paid for
arrestin' criminals, an' for protectin' 'em from mobs, which they
don't do."
"I have no doubt every word you say is true, Mr. Taylor, and such a
state of things is unjust, and will some day be different, if I can
help to make it so. But, nevertheless, all good citizens, whatever
their colour, ought to help to preserve peace and good order."
"Yes, sir, so they ought; and I want to do just that; I want to
co-operate, and a whole heap of us want to co-operate with the good
white people to keep down crime and lawlessness. I know there's good
white people who want to see justice done--but they ain't always
strong enough to run things; an' if any one of us coloured folks tells
on another one, he's liable to lose all his frien's. But I believe,
sir, that I can trust you to save me harmless, and to see that nothin'
mo' than justice is done to the coloured man."
"Yes, Taylor, you can trust me to do all that I can, and I think I
have considerable influence.
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