Even radical abolitionists demanded Black meekness while banning interracial intimacy

Evidence

More paternalistically and brazenly than Garrison, the Tappan brothers instructed AASS agents to instill in free Blacks “the importance of domestic order, and the performance of relative duties in families; of correct habits; command of temper and courteous manners.” Their mission: uplift the inferior free Blacks to “an equality with whites.” And yet, AASS agents and supporters were cautioned not to adopt Black children, encourage interracial marriages, or excite “the people of color to assume airs.” Blacks were to assume “the true dignity of meekness” in order to win over their critics. — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 469

Categorization

• XREF: This is the assimilationist trap embedded even in the abolitionist movement — exactly the discomfort the reader wants to test against the three-way scheme. Connects to the ‘Complaints About Immodesty’ piece on class/identity/political signaling through dress and manners.
• DEFINE: Illuminates assimilationism from within: even the most antiracist-sounding movement demanded Blacks prove worthiness through meekness and domestic respectability before equality.