When the horse and the ass
shall be found to match in double harness, the white man and the African
black will pull together under the same regime. It is the grand error of
equalizing that which is unequal, that has lowered the negro character,
and made the black man a reproach.
In his savage home, what is the African? Certainly bad; but not so bad
as white men would (I believe) be under similar circumstances. He is
acted upon by the bad passions inherent in human nature, but there is no
exaggerated vice, such as is found in civilized countries. The strong
takes from the weak, one tribe fights the other--do not perhaps we in
Europe?--these are the legitimate acts of independent tribes, authorized
by their chiefs. They mutually enslave each other--how long is it since
America and WE OURSELVES ceased to be slaveholders? He is callous and
ungrateful--in Europe is there no ingratitude?
He is cunning and a liar by nature--in Europe is all truth and
sincerity? Why should the black man not be equal to the white? He is as
powerful in frame, a why should he not be as exalted in mind?
In childhood I believe the negro to be in advance, in intellectual
quickness, of the white child of a similar age, but the mind does not
expand--it promises fruit, but does not ripen; and the negro man has
grown in body, but not advanced in intellect.
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