“Who Rebels? Who rises in arms? Rarely the slave, but almost always the oppressor turned slave.”
History and Utopia (1960)
“If you are not their slaves, you are rebels.”
James is quoting Toussaint Louverture's speech to his troops--most of whom, like Toussaint himself, were former slaves. The "their" refers to the French imperialists, p. 307
The Black Jacobins (1938)
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C. L. R. James 21
Trinidadian writer 1901–1989Related quotes
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Rutherford B. Hayes
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Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1922 - 1926)
Context: You use the phrase “brutal Rebels.” Don’t be cheated in that way. There are enough “brutal Rebels” no doubt, but we have brutal officers and men too. I have had men brutally treated by our own officers on this raid [to Lynchburg, Va. ]. And there are plenty of humane Rebels. I have seen a good deal of it on this trip. War is a cruel business and there is brutality in it on all sides, but it is very idle to get up anxiety on account of any supposed peculiar cruelty on the part of Rebels. Keepers of prisons in Cincinnati, as well as in Danville, are hard-hearted and cruel.