On the record
We are often asked with an air of reproach by white men at the North: “Why don’t your people fight their way to the ballot-box?” The question adds insult to injury.
Said by
Frederick Douglass
Source
gutenberg.orgFrederick Douglass: “We are often asked with an air of reproach by white men at the North: “Why don’t your people fight their way to the…”
Editor's note · Context
Douglass critiques the misconception that African Americans should resort to violence to gain voting rights.
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More from Frederick Douglass
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None now denies the ability of the colored race to acquire knowledge of anything which can be communicated to the human understanding by letters.
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Nothing but the shot-gun or the bull-dozer’s whip can keep them from voting their convictions.
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They cannot be coaxed or driven to vote with their enemies against their friends.
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The nation or people which shall comply with them will rise, and those which violate them will fall, and perhaps will disappear altogether.