The intellectual cost of even conceding he may have a point is incredibly high. The emotional and personal cost for following his advice is tremendous, and there's always the possibility that he's wrong.
"What shall we do with the Negro?" I have had but one answer from the beginning. Do nothing with us! Your doing with us has already played the mischief with us. Do nothing with us! If the apples will not remain on the tree of their own strength, if they are wormeaten at the core, if they are early ripe and disposed to fall, let them fall! I am not for tying or fastening them on the tree in any way, except by nature's plan, and if they will not stay there, let them fall. And if the Negro cannot stand on his own legs, let him fall also. All I ask is, give him a chance to stand on his own legs! Let him alone!
When "helping others" is more about the "helper" than the "helped" -- and especially when it's for "their own good" -- it is no surprise that the "help" makes the situation worse. It's like a Law of Nature, or something.
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If this is true, Africa is tremendously screwed.
The intellectual cost of even conceding he may have a point is incredibly high. The emotional and personal cost for following his advice is tremendous, and there's always the possibility that he's wrong.
Frederick Douglass: "What shall we do with the Negro?"
"What shall we do with the Negro?" I have had but one answer from the beginning. Do nothing with us! Your doing with us has already played the mischief with us. Do nothing with us! If the apples will not remain on the tree of their own strength, if they are wormeaten at the core, if they are early ripe and disposed to fall, let them fall! I am not for tying or fastening them on the tree in any way, except by nature's plan, and if they will not stay there, let them fall. And if the Negro cannot stand on his own legs, let him fall also. All I ask is, give him a chance to stand on his own legs! Let him alone!
When "helping others" is more about the "helper" than the "helped" -- and especially when it's for "their own good" -- it is no surprise that the "help" makes the situation worse. It's like a Law of Nature, or something.
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