Frederick Douglass: “Exodus is medicine, not food; it is for disease, not health; it is not…”

On the recordJanuary 1, 1881

Exodus is medicine, not food; it is for disease, not health; it is not to be taken from choice, but necessity.

Said by

Frederick Douglass

Source

From his autobiography, using a metaphor to describe the Black exodus as a necessary response to dire conditions rather than a preferred solution.

More from Frederick Douglass

Jan 1, 1881

Another ground of hope for our race is in the progress of education.

Jan 1, 1881

Everywhere in the south the colored man is learning to read.

Jan 1, 1881

To-day the negro, starting from nothing, pays taxes upon six millions in Georgia, and forty millions in Louisiana.

Jan 1, 1881

None now denies the ability of the colored race to acquire knowledge of anything which can be communicated to the human understanding by letters.

Frederick Douglass: “Exodus is medicine, not food; it is for disease, not health; it is not to be taken from choice, but necessity.”