On the record
He shows his Northern visitor the scarred and wretched land; the ruined mansions, the worn-out soil and mortgaged acres, and says, This is Negro freedom!
Said by
W.E.B. Du Bois
Source
gutenberg.orgW.E.B. Du Bois: “He shows his Northern visitor the scarred and wretched land; the ruined mansions, the worn-out soil and mortgaged acres…”
Editor's note · Context
Du Bois describes a Northern visitor's encounter with a white landowner who illustrates the harsh realities of Negro freedom.
Share
More from W.E.B. Du Bois
Jan 1, 1903
He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of Opportunity closed roughly in his face.
Jan 1, 1903
But they should not keep these prizes, I said; some, all, I would wrest from them.
Jan 1, 1903
Many of the worst characteristics of the Negro masses of to-day had their seed in this period of the slave’s ethical growth.
Jan 1, 1903
This waste of double aims, this seeking to satisfy two unreconciled ideals, has wrought sad havoc with the courage and faith and deeds of ten thousand thousand people,—has sent them often wooing false gods and invoking false means of…