On the recordJanuary 1, 1881
We must not only be able to black boots, but to make them.
Said by
Frederick Douglass
Source
gutenberg.orgFrederick Douglass: “We must not only be able to black boots, but to make them.”
Editor's note · Context
Douglass uses a vivid metaphor to illustrate the need for Black Americans to move beyond menial labor to skilled production and manufacturing.
Share
More from Frederick Douglass
Jan 1, 1881
The fact that we have endured wrongs and hardships, which would have destroyed any other race, and have increased in numbers and public consideration, ought to strengthen our faith in ourselves and our future.
Jan 1, 1881
But whether it shall come late or come soon will depend mainly upon ourselves.
Jan 1, 1881
The vote of the colored man, formerly beaten down and stamped out by intimidation, is now revived, sought, and defended by powerful allies, and this from no transient sentiment of the moment, but from the permanent laws controlling the…
Jan 1, 1881
I will not listen, myself, and I would not have you listen to the nonsense, that no people can succeed in life among a people by whom they have been despised and oppressed.