One of the things that makes a Negro unpleasant to white folk is the fact that he suffers from their injustice. He is thus a standing rebuke to them.
Interpretation
The suffering of injustice faced by a marginalized group serves as a reminder to those in power of their own moral failings.
In this quote, H. L. Mencken points out that the presence of injustice experienced by Black individuals serves as a constant reminder of the moral failings of white individuals. The discomfort felt by white people is rooted in their awareness of this injustice, highlighting the broader social dynamics of race and power. Mencken suggests that the suffering of one group can evoke guilt and discomfort in another, illustrating the complicated relationships formed under systemic inequality.
In practice
In a discussion on systemic racism, this quote could underscore the uncomfortable truth about privilege and injustice.
I know a good many men of great learning-that is, men born with an extraordinary eagerness and capacity to acquire knowledge. One and all, they tell me that they can't recall learning anything of any value in school. All that schoolmasters managed to accomplish with them was to test and determine the amount of knowledge that they had already acquired independently-and not infrequently the determination was made clumsily and inaccurately.
It takes a long while for a naturally trustful person to reconcile himself to the idea that after all God will not help him
It is the theory of all modern civilized governments that they protect and foster the liberty of the citizen; it is the practice of all of them to limit its exercise, and sometimes very narrowly.
The central belief of every moron is that he is the victim of a mysterious conspiracy against his common rights and true deserts.
The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy.
It is my conviction that no normal man ever fell in love, within the ordinary meaning of the term, after the age of thirty.
I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife.
To me, "sexual freedom" means freedom from having to have sex.
There is an idea abroad among moral people that they should make their neighbors good. One person I have to make good: Myself. But my duty to my neighbor is much more nearly expressed by saying that I have to make him happy if I may.
Aren't I enough for you?' she asked. 'No,' he said. 'You are enough for me, as far as a woman is concerned. You are all women to me. But I wanted a man friend, as eternal as you and I are eternal.' (Women in Love)
If you have a sister and she dies, do you stop saying you have one? Or are you always a sister, even when the other half of the equation is gone?
They had nothing to say to each other. A five-year age gap between siblings is like a garden that needs constant attention. Even three months apart allows the weeds to grow up between you.
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