I suspect that beneath all of my seeming triumphs there were many failures and disappointments, but the realities loomed so large that they swept away even the memory of other dreams and wishes.
Du Bois reflects on the balance of triumphs and failures in his life, emphasizing the weight of societal expectations.
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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…
To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships.
But they should not keep these prizes, I said; some, all, I would wrest from them.
By 1830 slavery seemed hopelessly fastened on the South, and the slaves thoroughly cowed into submission.