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Wiz Imp

(7,827 posts)

29. I've found a different source referenced.

Tue Oct 28, 2025, 10:34 PM

Tuesday

Either way, I see no reason to question the veracity of the claim in general.

https://gehayi.tumblr.com/post/170390081086/in-1944-a-sixteen-year-old-black-student-in

The line is a slightly altered version of one from A Nation of Nations (1944) by Louis Adamic. Dan Shiffman quotes it in Rooting Multiculturalism: The Work of Louis Adamic:

“Perhaps Adamic’s most memorable reference [to the progress and ongoing exclusion African-Americans faced in WWII] comes early in the chapter and sets the tone for the rest of his discussion: ‘In the spring of 1944 a sixteen-year-old girl in Columbus, Ohio won a high school essay contest on “What to do with Hitler after the War” by writing a single sentence: “Put him in a black skin and let him live the rest of his life in America.”

But a significant point is that she won the contest.‘

So not only was the student black, but a black girl. Most of the re-quotes of Adamic omit that fact.

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sheshe2 Wednesdays IronLionZion Talitha colorado_ufo

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Highlight:

"Put him in a black skin"... [View all] sheshe2 Tuesday OP

A very mature and wise young student. Wonder what life had in store for her/ him Deuxcents Tuesday #1

Outstanding response! brer cat Tuesday #2

wow DoBW Tuesday #3

It's only one sentence, but it speaks volumes. anciano Tuesday #4

No Kidding!!! calimary Tuesday #9

What a Sweetheart ... Clearly a Cha Tuesday #5

FWIW, Google AI couldn't identify the student, or give their correct gender. TheRickles Tuesday #7

I'm sure all those "intelligent agents" couldn't identify Hitler's racial makeup or his gender either. erronis Tuesday #8

Yeesh, I just thought it would be interesting to learn more about whoever came up with that brilliant quote. TheRickles Tuesday #12

Sorry. I tend to get carried away on the enshittification of the internet. erronis Tuesday #14

Got it. No worries - all is forgiven. :-) TheRickles Tuesday #16

See my post #21 IronLionZion Tuesday #22

Oh dear.. now what? Cha Tuesday #10

Appears DU dweller Tuesday #26

Boy or girl? colorado_ufo Yesterday #32

Powerful maveric Tuesday #6

We should do that with everyone swong19104 Tuesday #11

this sounds a lil too good to be true tbh, mainly because of the utter lack of correlating evidence WhiskeyGrinder Tuesday #13

This message was self-deleted by its author anciano Tuesday #17

Today some have the attitude "Hey we don't need to see the trees because we see a forest." . . . nt Bernardo de La Paz Tuesday #18

I don't need made-up stories to know that living in a white supremacy hurts Black people. WhiskeyGrinder Tuesday #20

It's from a book called "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents" by Isabel Wilkerson IronLionZion Tuesday #21

What is from the book? WhiskeyGrinder Tuesday #23

The story in the OP IronLionZion Tuesday #24

Does the book name the child who wrote this essay, the school where they studied, who sponsored the contest? WhiskeyGrinder Tuesday #25

Is the identity or even the verity of the anecdote the most important point here? Ilikepurple Tuesday #28

I've found a different source referenced. Wiz Imp Tuesday #29

Since that book is 1944 and the OP story says 1944 IronLionZion Yesterday #38

Agreed Wiz Imp Yesterday #39

If you have not read Wilkerson's Caste, it is well worth reading. Lonestarblue Yesterday #37

... littlemissmartypants Tuesday #15

Ouch. Iggo Tuesday #19

Great idea LetMyPeopleVote Tuesday #27

As a young teen I read Black Like Me. multigraincracker Tuesday #30

As did I. sheshe2 Tuesday #31

Required reading as a Freshman. sop Yesterday #33

He needs to live the story, not ban it. multigraincracker Yesterday #35

Do that Rebl2 Yesterday #34

Do it to TSF's whole cabinet tikka Yesterday #36