From the Bookshelf of Around the World in 80 Books…

For this is your home, my friend, do not be driven from it; great men have done great things here, and will again, and we can make American what America must become.
(p.10)

This innocent country set you down in a ghetto in which, in fact, it intended that you should perish. Let me spell out precisely what I mean by that, for the heart of the matter is here, and the root of my dispute with my country. You were born where you were born and faced the future that you faced because you were blac

For this is your home, my friend, do not be driven from it; great men have done great things here, and will again, and we can make American what America must become.
(p.10)

This innocent country set you down in a ghetto in which, in fact, it intended that you should perish. Let me spell out precisely what I mean by that, for the heart of the matter is here, and the root of my dispute with my country. You were born where you were born and faced the future that you faced because you were black and for no other reason. The limits of your ambition were, thus, expected to be set forever. You were born into a society which spelled out with brutal clarity, and in as many ways as possible, that you were a worthless human being. You were not expected to aspire to excellence: you were expected to make peace with mediocrity.
(p.7)