“The men doing the vital things of life are those who read the Bible and are Christians and not ashamed to let the world know it.
Great men cultivate love… Only little men cherish a spirit of hatred. … The man is unwise who does not cultivate in every manly way the friendship and goodwill of his next-door neighbor, whether he be black or white.
In the sight of God there is no color line, and we want to cultivate a spirit that will make us forget that there is such a line anyway.“
– Booker T. Washington, May 1900, and in Up from Slavery, 1901 (1856-1915: born into slavery, became leading intellectual founding Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute)