Du Bois marked a great stage in the history of Negro struggles when he said that Negroes could no longer accept the subordination which Booker T. Washington had preached.
C. L. R. JamesRead
It is over one hundred years since the abolition of slavery. The Negro people in the United States have taken plenty and they have reached a stage where they have decided that they are not going to take any more.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the determination of the African American community to stand against oppression after a long history of suffering.
C. L. R. James reflects on the significant historical achievement of the abolition of slavery over a century ago, highlighting that the African American community has endured a legacy of hardship and oppression. He notes that they have reached a point of resilience where they refuse to accept further injustices, illustrating their strength and resolve to fight for their rights and dignity.
Themes
SlaveryFreedomResilienceOppressionJustice
In practice
Example use cases
During a Black History Month event, this quote can be used to inspire discussions about civil rights.
More from C. L. R. James
All quotes →Technological discoveries are the spermatozoa of social change.
C. L. R. JamesRead
One of the surest signs of the estimated changes in the consciousness of the American proletariat is to be found in the character of the demands now being put forward by the leadership.
C. L. R. JamesRead
Capitalism has socialized production. It has brought thousands of people together in the factory and involved them in new social relationships.
C. L. R. JamesRead
I was a Labour Party man but I found myself to the left of the Labour party in Nelson, militant as that was. I came to London and in a few months I was a Trotskyist.
C. L. R. JamesRead
Today, in American imperialism, the commodity has reached its most grandiose historical manifestation.
C. L. R. JamesRead
Similar quotes
Had it not been for you, I should have remained what I was when we first met, a prejudiced, narrow-minded being, with contracted sympathies and false knowledge, wasting my life on obsolete trifles, and utterly insensible to the privilege of living in this wondrous age of change and progress.
Benjamin DisraeliRead
Change from below, the formulation of demands from the populace to end unacceptable injustice, supported by direct action, has played a far larger part in shaping British democracy than most constitutional lawyers, political commentators, historians or statesmen have ever cared to admit. Direct action in a democratic society is fundamentally an educational exercise.
Tony BennRead
Change your mental attitude, & the World around you will change accordingly
Napoleon HillRead
Only after disaster can we be resurrected. It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything. Nothing is static, everything is evolving, everything is falling apart.
Chuck PalahniukRead
On the day I started college in 1979, no woman had ever been on the United States Supreme Court or served as the Speaker of the House. None had been an astronaut or the solo anchor of a network evening news broadcast. Not one had been president of an Ivy League college or run a serious campaign for president.
Dee Dee MyersRead
You know, small children take it as a matter of course that things will change every day and grown-ups understand that things change sooner or later and their job is to keep them from changing as long as possible. It’s only kids in high school who are convinced they’re never going to change. There’s always going to be a pep rally and there’s always going to be a spectator bus, somewhere out there in their future.
Stephen KingRead