1900 "There are probably as many as a hundred colored brethren on the Watch
Tower lists, some of them very clear in the truth, and very earnest in its service,
financially and other-wise .. [but they are not allowed to participate in the "pioneer
work" as] although we have received letters from several of these, who had intended
engaging in the volunteer work, expressing surprise that in the call for volunteers in
the March 1, 1900 issue we restricted the inquiry to white Protestant churches. ..
The reason is that so far as we are able to judge, colored people have less education
than whites - many of them quite insufficient to permit them to profit by such reading
as we have to give forth. Our conclusion therefore is based upon the supposition that
reading matter distributed to a colored congregation would more than half of it be
utterly wasted, and a very small percentage indeed likely to yield good results. We
advise, therefore, that where the Watch Tower literature is introduced to colored
people it be not by promiscuous circulation, but only to those who give evidence of
some ear for the truth. {ZWT Apr 15 1900 122}
1901 "'It too often happens that, while the negro rapidly masters the rules and
regulations of the Christian religion, he still continues to be gross, immoral, and
deceitful. They (missionaries) may have succeeded in turning their disciples into
professing Catholics, Anglicans, or Baptists; but the impartial observer is surprised to
find that adultery, drunkenness, and lying are more apparent among the converts than
among their heathen brethren.' And again: 'I regret to say that, with a few - very rare
- exceptions, those native African pastors, teachers, and catechists whom I have met
have been all, more or less, bad men. They attempted to veil an unbridled immorality
with an unblushing hypocrisy and a profane display of mouth-religion which, to an
honest mind, seemed even more disgusting than the immorality itself. While it was
apparent that not one particle of true religion had made its way into their gross
minds, it was also evident that the spirit of sturdy manliness which was present in
their savage forefathers found no place in their false, cowardly natures.." [Given as a
quotation by Russell without adverse comment] {ZWT Aug 15 1901 266}