We have seen,--Merciful God! in these wild days and in the name of Civilization, Justice, and Motherhood,--what have we not seen, right here in America, of orgy, cruelty, barbarism, and murder done to men and women of Negro descent.
W.E.B. Du Bois: “We have seen,--Merciful God! in these wild days and in the name of Civilization, Justice, and Motherhood,--what have we…”
Editor's note · Context
In this passage, Du Bois laments the cruelty inflicted upon Black Americans in the name of civilization and justice.
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