I have during the last dozen years denied before the Americans that we are an inferior race; but this has been done by arguments based upon admitted principles rather than by the presentation of facts.
Douglass reflects on his past efforts to refute claims of racial inferiority through abstract arguments and signals a shift towards demonstrating Black capabilities through tangible achievements.
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A poverty-stricken class will be an ignorant and despised class, and no amount of sentiment can make it otherwise.
Put us in Kansas or in Africa, and until we learn to save more than we spend, we are sure to sink and perish.
Old and young, sick and well, were turned loose to the open sky, naked to their enemies.