Question

Read the selection below from Charles H. Wesley, "The Negro Has Always Wanted the Four Freedoms," in What the Negro Wants (1944). [Negroes] have wanted what other citizens of the United States have wanted. They have wanted freedom and opportunity. They have wanted the pursuit of the life vouchsafed to all citizens of the United States by our own liberty documents. They have wanted freedom of speech, [but] they were supposed to be silently acquiescent in all aspects of their life. … They have wanted freedom of religion, for they had been compelled to "steal away to Jesus" … in order to worship God as they desired. … They have wanted freedom from want. … However, the Negro has remained a marginal worker and the competition with white workers has left him in want in many localities of an economically sufficient nation. They have wanted freedom from fear. They have been cowed, browbeaten or beaten, as they have marched through the years of American life. … The Negro wants democracy to begin at home. … The future of our democratic life is insecure so long as the hatred, disdain and disparagement of Americans of African ancestry exist. … Why does Wesley believe that black Americans are denied the Four Freedoms?

Answer 1

They were supposed to be silently acquiescent in all aspects of their lives, did not have freedom of religion because they were compelled to "steal away Jesus" in order to worship God as they desired, freedom from want still in obtained, remained a marginal worker w/competition w/ whites,and (free from fear) they have been cowed, beaten through American life. Because black Americans are not free from color/race restrictions, of imperialism and exploitation, and not being included in participation of minorities all over the world in their own governments. unable to vote in south, segregation, and restriction on American standard of living.