In this quote, Anna Julia Cooper is highlighting the idea that a group of people, or a race, can not be improved or made much better by external forces. She is highlighting the value of internal modification and growth within a neighborhood rather than counting on outside impacts. Cooper is suggesting that real development and filtration need to come from within, through self-reflection and self-improvement. This quote challenges the idea that a person group can "repair" or "purify" another, and instead encourages individuals to take obligation for their own actions and work towards betterment from within. It likewise speaks with the idea of self-determination and the power of a community to form its own fate.
