On the recordJanuary 1, 1903
And the Nation echoed and enforced this self-criticism, saying: Be content to be servants, and nothing more; what need of higher culture for half-men?
Said by
W.E.B. Du Bois
Source
gutenberg.orgAnd the Nation echoed and enforced this self-criticism, saying: Be content to be servants, and nothing more; what need of higher culture for half-men?
This passage illustrates how the dominant national sentiment reinforced the self-criticism of Black people, advocating for their subservience and denying them access to higher culture.
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Hear my cry, O God the Reader; vouchsafe that this my book fall not still-born into the world wilderness.
Let the ears of a guilty people tingle with truth, and seventy millions sigh for the righteousness which exalteth nations, in this drear day when human brotherhood is mockery and a snare.
Our song, our toil, our cheer, and warning have been given to this nation in blood-brotherhood.