“There are buildings which will hold a few, but which will break down under the weight of a crowd. The ice of the river may be strong enough to bear a man, but would break through under the weight of an elephant. The ice under us in this country is very thin, and is made very weak by the warm fogs of prejudice… Our policy should be to unite with the great mass of the American people in all their activities, and resolve to fall or flourish with our common country. We cannot afford to draw the color-line in politics, trade, education, manners, religion, fashion, or civilization. Especially we cannot afford to draw the color-line in politics. No folly could be greater. A party acting on that basis would be not merely a misfortune, but a dire calamity to our people.”

Speech http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/the-nations-problem/

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Frederick Douglass274

American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman 1818–1895

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Anne Frank (1929–1945) victim of the Holocaust and author of a diary

Variant: The weak die out and the strong will survive, and will live on forever
Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

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Frederick Douglass274

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