The Negroes in the United States and the other Americas have earned the right to fight out their problems where they are, but they could easily furnish from time to time technical experts, leaders of thought, and missionaries of culture for their backward brethren in the new Africa.
Du Bois acknowledges the contributions of African Americans to the development of the new African state while advocating for local solutions to local problems.
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More from W.E.B. Du Bois
One ever feels his twoness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.
The direct result of this system is an all-cotton scheme of agriculture and the continued bankruptcy of the tenant.
He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of Opportunity closed roughly in his face.
To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships.