Some of the poems were old friends from childhood, but I do not recall ever having read this one – The Conquest of Prejudice
The first verse goes:
Unto a Yorkshire school was sent
A Negro youth to learn to write,
And the first day young Juba went
All gaz’d on him as a rare sight
The Head Boy, Henry Orme, took the lead in showing the boys how to react:
… “It does to me appear
To be a great disgrace & shame
A black should be admitted here”
The headmaster was not prepared to accept this kind of behaviour. He took the extraordinary step (to us, though mild by the standards of Mr Squeers) of removing Orme & Juba to a room on the top floor of the school. Each had his own bed, table & lamp, but the door was locked. Neither could leave, nor receive visitors. Their meals were delivered through a skylight
Orme was the first to crack & started to talk to his companion. They learned that they had their humanity in common, but much to learn by sharing their (very different) experiences of life so far
The poem ends:
Now Orme & Juba are good friends;
The school, by Orme’s example won,
Contend who most shall make amends
For former slights to Afric’s son
That was published in 1809, so just after the Abolition of the Slave Trade, but 30 years before Parliament granted full legal emancipation to the slaves of the British Empire
It was 150 years before Rosa could sit
And 200 years before Obama could run
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