“I do not laugh. I am quite straight-faced as I ask soberly:
"But what on earth is whiteness that one should so desire it?" Then always, somehow, some way, silently but clearly, I am given to understand that whiteness is the ownership of the earth forever and ever, Amen!
Now what is the effect on a man or a nation when it comes passionately to believe such an extraordinary dictum as this? That nations are coming to believe it is manifest daily. Wave on wave, each with increasing virulence, is dashing this new religion of whiteness on the shores of our time. Its first effects are funny: the strut of the Southerner, the arrogance of the Englishman amuck, the whoop of the hoodlum who vicariously leads your mob.”

— W.E.B. Du Bois

Darkwater http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15210/15210-h/15210-h.htm (1920), Ch. II: The Souls of White Folk

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "I do not laugh. I am quite straight-faced as I ask soberly: "But what on earth is whiteness that one should so desire …" by W.E.B. Du Bois?

W.E.B. Du Bois 62

American sociologist, historian, activist and writer 1868–1963

Related quotes

“I just can't believe all the things people say -- Controversy
Am I black or white? Am I straight or gay? -- Controversy
Do I believe in God? Do I believe in me?”

Prince (1958–2016) American pop, songwriter, musician and actor

Controversy
Song lyrics, Controversy (1981)

“I am quite serious when I say that I do not believe there are, on the whole earth besides, so many intensified bores as in these United States. No man can form an adequate idea of the real meaning of the word, without coming here.”

Charles Dickens (1812–1870) English writer and social critic and a Journalist

Comment while on an American tour (March 1842), as quoted in Dickens (1949) by Hesketh Pearson, Ch. 8

“Somehow, this hatred should come to an end. I am a believer of nonviolence. I believe we all are one, whichever religion we belong to.”

Sunil Dutt (1929–2005) Hindi film actor

We all are one, whichever religion we belong to

“Some of you may not believe, but I am glad to be here. When Sig asked me if I would consider addressing you there was no doubt that I should come into the lion's den.”

Ricardo Sanchez (1953) United States Army Lieutenant General

Reporters and editors luncheon address (2007)

“Even now I cannot believe that I am still alive and writing this account of the emperor's death. I put my hands to my eyes, wondering if what I am relating here is not all a dream - or maybe it is not a dream: perhaps it is a delusion and I am mad, the victim of some extraordinary and monstrous hallucination. How comes it that when he is dead I am still numbered among the living?”

Anna Comnena book Alexiad

The Alexiad, Preface

“When I put on my uniform, I feel I am the proudest man on earth. The players should pay the people to come and see us play.”

Roberto Clemente (1934–1972) Puerto Rican baseball player

From his 1971 World Series MVP acceptance speech, as quoted in "Pittsburgh's Clemente Honored"
Baseball-related, <big><big>1970s</big></big>, <big>1971</big>

“I am proud that my daughter believes, as I do, that hungry children should be fed whether they are Black Panthers or White Republicans”

Tommy Douglas (1904–1986) Scottish-born Canadian politician

Ottawa Journal, 5 October 1969.

“p>Fierce and gentle,
Loud and silent,
The river doesn't understand itself.
The wave doesn't find itself, until it reaches the sea.Oh the wave passes,
And the waves to come will be the same.
Hunger for love
Is strong in the heart.Standing before the waves,
I think of you and me.
I think of the great sea
And I wonder where the waves come from.The waves must come from the wind.
And I wonder where the wind comes from,
And I wonder
When will we love each other again?The waves deep in the sea
And the waves on the sea's surface
Long for the shore of the sea.
Day and night the waves cannot sleep
As I can not sleep, even in dreams,
Because of my longing for you.When I go to the North,
Or to the South,
When I go anywhere, I think of you,
My only direction.Out in the great sea
Thousands of waves are pushing,
Which one never reachs the shore
Even miles and miles from home?Life is so long;
Years and months go by.
Like the sea, life is endless.
Clouds fly to the distant horizon.How can I become
Like the hundreds of thousands of small waves
In the great sea of love
And lap forever against your shore?”

Xuân Quỳnh (1942–1988) poet

"Sóng" (29-12-1967)

“I am sick of talking about What and Why I am doing. I have always believed that the WORK is the word. Action is seen less clearly through reason. There are no shortcuts to directness.”

Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008) American artist

around 1965
Quote from Robert Rauschenberg, The early 1950s, Walter Hopps, Houston Fine Art Press, 1991
1960's

“The waves belong to the Ganges, not the Ganges to the waves. A man cannot realize God unless he gets rid of all such egotistic ideas as "I am such an important man" or "I am so and so".”

Ramakrishna (1836–1886) Indian mystic and religious preacher

Source: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942), p. 385
Context: The waves belong to the Ganges, not the Ganges to the waves. A man cannot realize God unless he gets rid of all such egotistic ideas as "I am such an important man" or "I am so and so". Level the mound of "I" to the ground by dissolving it with tears of devotion.

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

W.E.B. Du Bois 62

Related quotes

Related topics