Political Quotes

W.E.B. Du Bois: The slave-ship still groaned across the Atlantic, faint cries burdened the Southern breeze, and the great black father…

On the recordJanuary 1, 1903
The slave-ship still groaned across the Atlantic, faint cries burdened the Southern breeze, and the great black father whispered mad tales of cruelty into those young ears.
Said by
W.E.B. Du Bois

Editor's note · Context

In The Souls of Black Folk, this sentence vividly portrays the lingering presence of slavery and its traumatic legacy on the consciousness of a young Black child.

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