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Quote by Ta-Nehisi Coates

“Why were only our heroes nonviolent? I speak not of the morality of nonviolence, but of the sense that Blacks are in especial need of this morality. Back then all I could do was measure these freedom-lovers by what I knew... I judged them against the country I knew, which had acquired land through murder and tamed it under slavery, against the country whose armies fanned out across the world to extend their dominion. The world, the real one, was civilization secured and ruled by savage means. How could the schools valorize men and women whose values society actively scorned?”

Quote by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Book:Between the World and Me
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Between the World and Me

In this powerful and moving work, the author delves into the intersection of race, history, and personal experience, offering a raw and honest perspective on the African American experience. more

Author

Ta-Nehisi Coates
Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Coates is an American writer known for his insightful social commentary and literary works. His writings often focus on themes of race, history, and social justice, with his most famous work being 'Between the World and Me', which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2015. more

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“During my stay here in your city [Chicago] I have been visited by several groups of your people—all of whom have recited the story of the wrongs and injustices heaped upon the race; all of them appealing to me to denounce these outrages to the world. I have asked each delegation 'What are you doing to help yourselves?' Each group gave the same answer, namely, that they are so divided in church, lodges, etc., that they have not united their forces to fight the common enemy. At last I got mad, and said, 'You people have not been lynched enough! You haven't been lynched enough to drive you together! You say you are only ten millions in this country, with ten times that number against you—all of whom you say are solidly united by race prejudice against your progress. All of you by your own confession stand as individual units striving against a united band to fight or hold your own. Any ten-year-old child knows that a dozen persons fighting as one can make better headway against ten times its number than if each were fighting singlehanded and alone.' What you need in each community is a solid organization to fight race prejudice wherever shown. That organization should be governed by a council of your best men and women. All matters affecting your race welfare should be passed on by that council and loyally obeyed and supported by all members of your race. Until you do that much, it is useless to appeal to others to do for you what you can best do for yourselves.”

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