braddelong.substack.com/p/briefly-note…
W.E.B. Du Bois: The Souls of White Folk: ‘The Middle Age regarded skin color with mild curiosity; and even up into the eighteenth century we were hammering our national manikins into one, great, Universal Man, with fine frenzy which ignored color... 1/
W.E.B. Du Bois: The Souls of White Folk: ‘The Middle Age regarded skin color with mild curiosity; and even up into the eighteenth century we were hammering our national manikins into one, great, Universal Man, with fine frenzy which ignored color... 1/
... and race even more than birth. Today we have changed all that, and the world in a sudden, emotional conversion has discovered that it is white and by that token, wonderful! This assumption that of all the hues of God whiteness alone is inherently and obviously better... 2/
... than brownness or tan leads to curious acts; even the sweeter souls of the dominant world as they discourse with me on weather, weal, and woe are continually playing above their actual words an obligato of tune and tone, saying “My poor, un-white thing! Weep not nor... 3/
rage. I know, too well, that the curse of God lies heavy on you. Why? That is not for me to say, but be brave! Do your work in your lowly sphere, praying the good Lord that into heaven above, where all is love, you may, one day, be born-white!” I do not laugh. I am quite... 4/
... straight-faced as I ask soberly: “But what on earth is whiteness that one should so desire it?” Then always, somehow, some way, silently but clearly, I am given to understand that whiteness is the ownership of the earth forever and ever, Amen! Now what is the effect on... 5/
... a man or a nation when it comes passionately to believe such an extraordinary dictum as this?…
LINK: <loa-shared.s3.amazonaws.com/static/pdf/Du_…> 6/END
LINK: <loa-shared.s3.amazonaws.com/static/pdf/Du_…> 6/END
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
