Du Bois, W. E. B.
The Conservation of Races (1897)
- 2006.
45
The history of the world is not that of individuals, but of groups. And yet it is not the history of socioeconomic classes, but of races. Races are not biological realities, but social and historical realities, each of which has a special message for humanity. But the Negro race, in contrast to the others, has yet to deliver its message. In order to do so it needs to work on two fronts: that of the good moral health of the Black people on the one hand, and that of their education on the other. At once American and Negro, the Black American must not forget to which race he belongs and must ensure that the condition of American Blacks can be improved in order to guarantee the delivery of the message of the Negro race. The object of the American Negro Academy is to guarantee the education of Blacks by Blacks for the conservation of their race.