The whites were right to be afraid. One day the system would collapse in blood. An insurrection of one. She smiled for a moment, before the facts of her latest cell reasserted themselves. Scrabbling in the walls like a rat. Whether in the fields or underground or in an attic room America remained her warden. Colson Whitehead
About This Quote

Deep in the heart of the South, where land and history and classical music and the accents of the old masters all combine to create a kind of soulful mystery, there is a town called Oxford. Most people don’t realize it is in this town that, when they were ten years old, they were assaulted by their elders with a teaching called “the white race was right to be afraid.” As if this statement wasn’t enough, they were also told that one day the system would collapse in blood. An insurrection of one. She smiled for a moment, before the facts of her latest cell reasserted themselves.

Scrabbling in the walls like a rat. Whether in the fields or underground or in an attic room America remained her warden.

Source: The Underground Railroad

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More Quotes By Colson Whitehead
  1. See chains on another person and be glad they are not your own--such was the good fortune permitted colored people, defined by how much worse it could be at any moment.
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