Then, slowly, I realized that some folks, a few, even several, actually considered my brown skin a misfortune; once or twice I became painfully aware that some human beings even thought it a crime.
Here, Du Bois conveys the painful realization that some people viewed his skin color negatively, reflecting societal prejudices.
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The Nation has not yet found peace from its sins; the freedman has not yet found in freedom his promised land.
To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships.
Three things characterized this religion of the slave,—the Preacher, the Music, and the Frenzy.
In song and exhortation swelled one refrain—Liberty; in his tears and curses the God he implored had Freedom in his right hand.