Actively we have woven ourselves with the very warp and woof of this nation,—we fought their battles, shared their sorrow, mingled our blood with theirs, and generation after generation have pleaded with a headstrong, careless people to despise not Justice, Mercy, and Truth, lest the nation be smitten with a curse.
Du Bois asserts the active and integral role of Black Americans in the nation's fabric, highlighting their sacrifices and persistent calls for justice and truth.
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Many of the worst characteristics of the Negro masses of to-day had their seed in this period of the slave’s ethical growth.
The Nation has not yet found peace from its sins; the freedman has not yet found in freedom his promised land.
This waste of double aims, this seeking to satisfy two unreconciled ideals, has wrought sad havoc with the courage and faith and deeds of ten thousand thousand people,—has sent them often wooing false gods and invoking false means of…