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What does “remember, Christians …” mean?
“Remember, Christians, Negroes, black Cain,/ May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train.” (Wheatly, On Being Brought from Africa to America)
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On Being Brought From Africa to America – a poem by Phillis Wheatley
“Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there’s a God, that there’s a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
“Their colour is a diabolic die.”
Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,
May be refin’d and join th’angelic train.
Phillis Wheatley wrote this poem containing the last phrase you have questioned. She was an African poet and slave. Her book “Poems on Various Subjects” was the first book of poems published by a U.S. slave and African American woman. In this phrase she warns against judging the black race as evil because of their irreversible color of their skin. And she warns fellow Christians that Christians can come in all colors, and they must be prepared for “black as Cain,” people who are also devoted and refined black people who should be welcomed into the faith.
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