her novel Jonah’s Gourd Vine, Hurston has one of her characters, a former slave, delivering an impassioned speech about honoring black children: “We black folks don’t love our chillun. We couldn’t do it when we wuz in slavery. We borned ’em but dat didn’t make ’em ourn. Dey b’longed tuh old Massa. ’Twan’t no use in treasurin’ other folkses property. It wuz liable tuh be took away any day. But we’s free folks now. De big bell done rung! Us chillun is ourn. Ah doan know, mebbe hit’ll take some of us generations, but us got tuh ’gin tuh practise on treasurin’ our younguns. … Ah don’t want ’em
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