When two young people are given a life-changing opportunity they
encounter moral and systemic challenges that are directly tied to their
racial and economic backgrounds. In The Quest of the Silver Fleece,
W.E.B. Du Bois confronts covert discrimination in contemporary America.
Cotton, also known as "silver fleece," is still a prized possession in
the early-twentieth century. It continues to generate massive profits
that are barely distributed amongst its predominantly Black workforce.
Zora is a child of the South, and Bles, is a man with Northern
sensibilities--yet, they both feel the weight of oppression. Set in
Alabama and Washington D.C., The Quest of the Silver Fleece examines
the struggle for upward mobility and the compromises to sustain it.
As a sociologist, Du Bois explores the ongoing effects of racial
inequality in both the North and South. With The Quest of the Silver
Fleece, he highlights the glaring disparity between the white
establishment and African American labor. It's an explicit indictment of
continued oppression in a post-slavery society.
With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript,
this edition of The Quest of the Silver Fleece is both modern and
readable.