Lovely quotation. I have heard the gist before, but don’t recall reading such solid precise phrasing.
If you have never read Booker T. Washington’s book, “Up From Slavery” I cannot recommend it highly enough.
It is inspirational, yet pragmatic. It is a travesty that many (though not all, as this article shows) elements of the black community over the years have bought into the W.E.B. Dubois approach to citizenship, instead of following the suggestions and example of Booker T. Washington.
Now, W.E.B. Dubois is lionized, and Booker T. Washington is forgotten and vilified. And that is a crime, IMO.