You may expel us, gentlemen, but I firmly believe that you will some day repent it. The black man cannot protect a country, if the country doesnt protect him; and if, tomorrow, a war should arise, I would not raise a musket to defend a country where my manhood is denied. The fashionable way in Georgia, when hard work is to be done, is for the white man to sit at his ease while the black man does the work; but, sir, I will say this much to the colored men of Georgia, as, if I should be killed in this campaign, I may have no opportunity of telling them at any other time: Never lift a finger nor raise a hand in defense of Georgia, until Georgia acknowledges that you are men and invests you with the rights pertaining to manhood. -- Henry McNeal Turner on 9/3/1868 on being one of 24 African American representatives expelled from the Georgia Legislature.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 13:14:45 +0000
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