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Quote by Colson Whitehead

“He was born in Odessa and settled on Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side in 1906; his family's house had been burned down the previous October. Pogroms, massacres. America was in the massacre racket, too, Heshie observed, but they concentrated on Negroes and Indians for the most part. He figured they'd come for him once they ran out, but that might take years.”

Quote by Colson Whitehead

Book:Crook Manifesto
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Crook Manifesto

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Author

Colson Whitehead
Colson Whitehead

Colson Whitehead is an American novelist known for his distinctive literary style and profound insights into historical themes. His works cover a range of topics from slavery to modern urban life, with his 'New York Trilogy' and 'The Underground Railroad' being particularly notable. more

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WarRevoltMassacres
Book:Shadow of the Moon
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“The standoff had already lasted five days. "It was a Monday, the 3rd of October 1502," wrote Tomé Lopes: "a date that I will remember every day of my life." By now Gama's soldiers had removed all the weapons they could find from the Arab ship. It was a sitting duck, and the admiral ordered his men into their boats. Their task was simple. They were to tow the Mîrî out to sea until it was safely away from the Portuguese fleet. Then they were to set it alight and burn it with everyone on board. The soldiers marched onto the Mîrî, set fires across the decks, and jumped back into the boats as the flames licked and the smoke billowed. Some of the Muslims rushed to smother the fires, and one by one they stamped them out. Others dragged out several small bombards they had managed to hide from the search party, and they hurriedly set them up. The pilgrims and merchants ran to grab anything that could serve as ammunition, including fist-sized stones from the piles of ballast in the hold. There was clearly no chance of surrender, and they were determined to die fighting rather than burn to death. When the soldiers in the boats saw the fires go out they rowed back to light them again. As they approached, women and men alike fired the bombards and hurled the stones. The Europeans cowered under the hail of missiles and beat a fast retreat. From a distance they tried to sink the Mîrî with their bombards, but the guns carried on the boats were too small to inflict real damage. The Muslim women tore off their jewelry, clutched the gold, silver, and precious stones in their fists, and shook them at the boats, screaming at their attackers to take everything they had. They held up their babies and little children and desperately pleaded with the Christians to take pity on the innocents. One last time, the merchants shouted and gestured that they would pay a great ransom if their lives were spared. Gama watched, hidden from sight, through a loophole in the side of his ship. Tomé Lopes was stunned: shocked by the admiral's refusal to relent, and amazed that he was willing to turn down such wealth. There was no doubt in his mind that the ransom would have been enough to buy the freedom of every Christian prisoner in Morocco and still leave great treasure for the king. Bergamo and his fellow factors were no doubt wondering just how much of their profit would go up in smoke. Yet there were plenty of zealous Christians among the crews who had no more qualms than their Crusader forebears about killing peaceful merchants and pilgrims. The dehumanizing notion that their enemies in faith were somehow not real people was too deeply ingrained to be shaken. Like holy warriors before and after, they avoided looking into the whites of their victims' eyes and got on with their godly business.”

MassacresVasco Da GamaLusians
Book:The Last Crusade: The Epic Voyages Of Vasco Da Gama by Nigel Cliff
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“இனியபுனல் அருவிதவழ் இன்பமலைச் சாரலிலே கனிகுலவும் மரநிழலில் கரம்பிடித்து உகந்ததெல்லாம் கனவுதானோடி - சகியே நினைவு தானோடி..! புன்னைமரச் சோலையிலே பொன்னொளிரும் மாலையிலே என்னைவரச்சொல்லி அவர் கன்னல்மொழி பகர்ந்ததெல்லாம் சொப்பனந்தானோடி - அந்த அற்புதம் பொய்யோடி..! கட்டுகாவல் தான்கடந்து கள்ளரைப்போல் மட்டில்லாத காதலுடன் கட்டி முத்தம் ஈந்ததெல்லாம் நிகழ்ந்ததுண்டோடி நாங்கள் மகிழ்ந்ததுண்டோடி..!”

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Book:பொன்னியின் செல்வன், முழுத்தொகுப்பு
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