The Texan tries to claim the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon race, but the soldier ably and eloquently explains that all of the accomplishments of the Anglo-Saxons are built on discoveries made by other races. The Texan does not believe in racial equality at all while the Union soldier argues for it. The argument is mostly between the old soldier and the Texan. The professor is flustered and does not participate.

The Jewish man takes neither side but listens and comments politely. The men gathered there are cordial and convivial they include a Jewish cigar maker, a white professor, an ex-Union soldier, and a boisterous Texan planter. On the way, he ends up in the smoking car of the train. The narrator reflects positively on his time in Washington but then moves on to Macon, Georgia. The doctor, meanwhile, is very critical of who he deems 'the worst' of the race. The narrator becomes quickly acquainted with the doctor's friends, all educated African Americans, who earn 'good salaries and a reasonable amount of leisure time to draw from' (112). The narrator stays with his new friend in Boston for a few days and then accompanies him to Washington D.C., where the doctor lives. The doctor is 'broad-minded' and believes that 'Negroes' are progressing, although he sympathizes with certain aspects of the white, Southern perspective. They strike up a friendship and discuss the race question. On the boat back to America, the narrator meets a large, dignified African American man, ('the doctor'), a graduate of Howard University.

The ex colored man