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If the leading Negro classes cannot assume and bear the uplift of their own proletariat, they are doomed for all time. It is not a case of ethics; it is a plain case of necessity. The method by which this may be done is, first, for the American Negro to achieve a new economic solidarity.

If I allow the fact that I am a Negro to checkmate my will to do, now, I will inevitably form the habit of being defeated.

I am not prejudiced against the Negro. When I was governor, I did more to help the Negroes in our State than any previous Governor, and I think you can find Negro leaders in the State who will attest to this fact.

You've got to appreciate the things that come from the art of the Negro and from the heart of the man farthest down.

We do not show the Negro how to overcome segregation, but we teach him how to accept it as final and just.

The Negro has been here in America since 1619, a total of 344 years. He is not going anywhere else; this country is his home. He wants to do his part to help make his city, state, and nation a better place for everyone, regardless of color and race.

Slavery is not the only question which comes up in this controversy. There is a far more important one to you, and that is, what shall be done with the free negro?

I can't serve just the Negro cause. I've got to serve all the people of Massachusetts.

I am viewed as the Negro who has gone outside of the categories assigned to me.