We Must Complain. Yes, Plain,

A Classic Is A Book That Doesn't Have To Be Written Again.

Among Negroes Of My Generation There Was Not Only Little Direct Acquaintance Or Consciously Inherited Knowledge Of Africa, But Much Distaste And Recoil Because Of What The White World Taught Them About The Dark Continent. There Arose Resentment That A Group Like Ours, Born And Bred In The United States For Centuries, Should Be Regarded As Africans At All. They Were, As Most Of Them Began Gradually To Assert, Americans. My Father's Father Was Particularly Bitter About This. He Would Not Accept An Invitation To A 'negro' Picnic. He Would Not Segregate Himself In Any Way.

If You Want To Feel Humor Too Exquisite And Subtle For Translation, Sit Invisibly Among A Gang Of Negro Workers.

The History Of The American Negro Is The History Of This Strife, - This Longing To Attain Self-conscious Manhood, To Merge His Double Self Into A Better And Truer Self. In This Merging He Wishes Neither Of The Older Selves To Be Lost... He Simply Wishes To Make It Possible For A Man To Be Both A Negro And An American.

It Is The Growing Custom To Narrow Control, Concentrate Power, Disregard And Disenfranchise The Public; And Assuming That Certain Powers By Divine Right Of Money-raising Or By Sheer Assumption, Have The Power To Do As They Think Best Without Consulting The Wisdom Of Mankind.