Now I like the colored people, and sympathize with all their reasonable aspirations; but you and I both know, John, that in this country the Negro must remain subordinate, and can never expect to be the equal of white men.
In this quote, Du Bois expresses a sobering perspective on racial equality and the societal limitations imposed on Black individuals in America.
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More from W.E.B. Du Bois
Away back in the days of bondage they thought to see in one divine event the end of all doubt and disappointment; few men ever worshipped Freedom with half such unquestioning faith as did the American Negro for two centuries.
The direct result of this system is an all-cotton scheme of agriculture and the continued bankruptcy of the tenant.
A million black men started with renewed zeal to vote themselves into the kingdom.
Between me and the other world there is ever an unasked question: unasked by some through feelings of delicacy; by others through the difficulty of rightly framing it.