Dear Helga,
I heard you recently got married to
a reverend and moved to the South. I hope your marriage and family brings you
fulfillment and happiness. I,
however, terribly regret kissing you at Tavernor’s party. You were silly to think we were more than
just acquaintances, and I never viewed you as having more than just a sexual
value.
When you had arrived at Naxos years
ago, I also made the mistake of thinking your background made you of “good
stock” but then found out you came from a poor upbringing. You definitely fooled me! I had appreciated you voicing your
gripes with the institution, but I think you failed to understand how important
discipline is in completing the mission of the school. We must remain uniform as a race, because
that is the only way we can gain the appropriate tools to succeed in white
America. As the preacher had asserted, it is important for us to stay in our
“places.” We must conform to the
greater society we live in, and Naxos is helping poor Negroes from all across
the country become respectable, less savage people to uplift our race towards a
more promising prospect.
You should have stayed around Miss
MacGooden more and learned a few more lessons from her. She always tried her best to act like a
lady and not participate in promiscuous activities like other Negro women such
as yourself. She always knew how
to model acceptable sexual behavior.
You should have followed her lead and considered the decision to not
marry.
Despite our differences in opinion, I wish you all the best.
Sincerely,
Dr. Robert Anderson
A picture taken at Tuskegee University in the 1920s, which Naxos is presumably based off of. It depicts a class of black women learning how to sew, a common vocational skill taught. Like Naxos, Tuskegee was an example of a black institution that believed in "racial uplift."
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