Political Quotes

W.E.B. Du Bois: Then the swamp grows beautiful; a raised road, built by chained Negro convicts, dips down into it, and forms a way…

On the recordJanuary 1, 1903
Then the swamp grows beautiful; a raised road, built by chained Negro convicts, dips down into it, and forms a way walled and almost covered in living green.
Said by
W.E.B. Du Bois

Editor's note · Context

Describing the physical landscape of the South, this passage highlights the beauty of nature juxtaposed with the harsh reality of forced labor and racial injustice.

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