quote · Words worth keeping
In the beginning—and neither can this be overstated—a Negro just cannot believe that white people are treating him as they do; he does not know what he has done to merit it. And when he realizes that the treatment accorded him has nothing to do with anything he has done, that the attempt of white people to destroy him—for that is what it is—is utterly gratuitous, it is not hard for him to think of white people as devils.
In the beginning—and neither can this be overstated—a Negro just cannot believe that white people are treating him as they do; he does not know what he has done to merit it. And when he realizes that the treatment accorded him has nothing to do with anything he has done, that the attempt of white people to destroy him—for that is what it is—is utterly gratuitous, it is not hard for him to think of white people as devils.
Approximate author period: c. 1955 AD · modern
Meaning not yet available
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- Author or tradition
- James Baldwin
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1955 AD · modern
Approximate author-period anchor from life dates 1924 to 1987; Wikidata Q273210, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q273210 (accessed 2026-10-08). Not a quotation composition date.
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 303397; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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