Political Quotes

Charles Sumner: “I cannot consent to speak of Lafayette, who was not ashamed to fight beside a black soldier, to an audience too delicate…”

On the record
I cannot consent to speak of Lafayette, who was not ashamed to fight beside a black soldier, to an audience too delicate to sit beside a black citizen.
Said by
Charles Sumner
Massachusetts

Editor's note · Context

Sumner criticizes the exclusion of black citizens from an audience, invoking Lafayette's legacy of fighting alongside black soldiers to highlight hypocrisy.

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