Black No More

by

George S. Schuyler

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Black No More makes teaching easy.

Shakespeare Agamemnon Beard/Karl von Beerde Character Analysis

Beard is the founder of the National Social Equality League. Though he preaches racial solidarity, the book implies that he secretly admires white people and pities and despises other Black Americans. Beard tries to appeal to the U.S. Attorney General, Walter Brybe, to shut down “Black-No-More,” convening a conference of other Black American leaders. But ultimately, Beard becomes white himself (taking the name Karl von Beerde) and works for the Democrats. Beard is a parody of famous civil rights activist W. E. B. Du Bois.

Shakespeare Agamemnon Beard/Karl von Beerde Quotes in Black No More

The Black No More quotes below are all either spoken by Shakespeare Agamemnon Beard/Karl von Beerde or refer to Shakespeare Agamemnon Beard/Karl von Beerde. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Racism and Oppression Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

In a very private inner office of the N. S. E. L. suite, Dr. Shakespeare Agamemnon Beard, founder of the League and a graduate of Harvard, Yale and Copenhagen (whose haughty bearing never failed to impress both Caucasians and Negroes), sat before a glass-topped desk, rubbing now his curly gray head, and now his full spade beard. For a mere six thousand dollars a year, the learned doctor wrote scholarly and biting editorials in The Dilemma denouncing the Caucasians whom he secretly admired and lauding the greatness of the Negroes whom he alternately pitied and despised. In limpid prose he told of the sufferings and privations of the down-trodden black workers with whose lives he was totally and thankfully unfamiliar. Like most Negro leaders, he deified the black woman but abstained from employing aught save octoroons. He talked at white banquets about “we of the black race” and admitted in books that he was part-French, part-Russian, part-Indian and part-Negro. He bitterly denounced the Nordics for debauching Negro women while taking care to hire comely yellow stenographers with weak resistance. In a real way he loved his people.

Related Characters: Shakespeare Agamemnon Beard/Karl von Beerde
Page Number: 65
Explanation and Analysis:

Mr. Licorice for some fifteen years had been very profitably advocating the emigration of all the American Negroes to Africa. He had not, of course, gone there himself and had not the slightest intention of going so far from the fleshpots, but he told the other Negroes to go. Naturally the first step in their going was to join his society by paying five dollars a year for membership, ten dollars for a gold, green and purple robe and silver-colored helmet that together cost two dollars and a half, contributing five dollars to the Santop Licorice Defense Fund […], and buying shares at five dollars each in the Royal Black Steamship Company, for obviously one could not get to Africa without a ship and Negroes ought to travel on Negro-owned and operated ships. The ships were Santop’s especial pride. True, they had never been to Africa, had never had but one cargo and that, being gin, was half consumed by the unpaid and thirsty crew before the vessel was saved by the Coast Guard, but they had cost more than anything else the Back-To-Africa Society had purchased even though they were worthless except as scrap iron.

Related Characters: Santop Licorice, Shakespeare Agamemnon Beard/Karl von Beerde
Page Number: 74-75
Explanation and Analysis:
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Shakespeare Agamemnon Beard/Karl von Beerde Quotes in Black No More

The Black No More quotes below are all either spoken by Shakespeare Agamemnon Beard/Karl von Beerde or refer to Shakespeare Agamemnon Beard/Karl von Beerde. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Racism and Oppression Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

In a very private inner office of the N. S. E. L. suite, Dr. Shakespeare Agamemnon Beard, founder of the League and a graduate of Harvard, Yale and Copenhagen (whose haughty bearing never failed to impress both Caucasians and Negroes), sat before a glass-topped desk, rubbing now his curly gray head, and now his full spade beard. For a mere six thousand dollars a year, the learned doctor wrote scholarly and biting editorials in The Dilemma denouncing the Caucasians whom he secretly admired and lauding the greatness of the Negroes whom he alternately pitied and despised. In limpid prose he told of the sufferings and privations of the down-trodden black workers with whose lives he was totally and thankfully unfamiliar. Like most Negro leaders, he deified the black woman but abstained from employing aught save octoroons. He talked at white banquets about “we of the black race” and admitted in books that he was part-French, part-Russian, part-Indian and part-Negro. He bitterly denounced the Nordics for debauching Negro women while taking care to hire comely yellow stenographers with weak resistance. In a real way he loved his people.

Related Characters: Shakespeare Agamemnon Beard/Karl von Beerde
Page Number: 65
Explanation and Analysis:

Mr. Licorice for some fifteen years had been very profitably advocating the emigration of all the American Negroes to Africa. He had not, of course, gone there himself and had not the slightest intention of going so far from the fleshpots, but he told the other Negroes to go. Naturally the first step in their going was to join his society by paying five dollars a year for membership, ten dollars for a gold, green and purple robe and silver-colored helmet that together cost two dollars and a half, contributing five dollars to the Santop Licorice Defense Fund […], and buying shares at five dollars each in the Royal Black Steamship Company, for obviously one could not get to Africa without a ship and Negroes ought to travel on Negro-owned and operated ships. The ships were Santop’s especial pride. True, they had never been to Africa, had never had but one cargo and that, being gin, was half consumed by the unpaid and thirsty crew before the vessel was saved by the Coast Guard, but they had cost more than anything else the Back-To-Africa Society had purchased even though they were worthless except as scrap iron.

Related Characters: Santop Licorice, Shakespeare Agamemnon Beard/Karl von Beerde
Page Number: 74-75
Explanation and Analysis: