We are sneered at for not being the social and intellectual equals, after sixty years of Western civilization, of people with thousands of years of this same civilization; yet when we set out to try to lessen the distance between us we are treated as if the attempt were a crime. Why not give us the chance to try? Are some white people really afraid that we might succeed?

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "We are sneered at for not being the social and intellectual equals, after sixty years of Western civilization, of people with thousands of years of this same civilization; yet when we set out to try to lessen the distance between us we are treated as if the attempt were a crime. Why not give us the chance to try? Are some white people really afraid that we might succeed?" in the context of "letter to the New York World newspaper (20 May 1923), included in Letters of Note: Art edited by Shaun Usher (2020)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.