from Malcolm x; on Afro-American History

page 21--middle of the page;

``They say the same thing to you and me over here, that we're not ready yet--isn't that what they say? Certainly, they say that you're not ready to live in a decent house, and you're not ready to go to a decent school, or that you're not ready to work on a decent job. This is what they say, and they don't say why we're not ready, they don't say why. And if we're not ready, they don't say that we once were ready, but we're not now--they try and make it look like we never were ready, that we never were in history a people who occupied a responsible position on the cultural tree, the civilization tree, or any other tree. They try to give us the impression , you know, that we never were qualified, therefore we can only qualify today to the degree that they themselves qualify us. And they trick us this way. Trick us into going to them and asking them, ``Qualify me, you know, so I can be free.'' Why, you're out of your mind.'' Malcolm x.