How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"I want you to show them the difference between what they think you are and what you can be." (24.40)
Grant isn't asking Jefferson to just be better than people expect him to be. He's asking him to teach them a lesson about prejudice by showing them how wrong their expectations are about him. Only if they are made aware of the difference between their expectations and reality will they start to question their prejudices.
Quote #8
"The last thing they ever want is to see a black man stand, and think, and show that common humanity that is in us all. It would destroy their myth." (24.42)
Prejudices are dangerous because they're regarded as easy truth. When people believe in their prejudices (and think that everyone else believes in them, too) the cycle of prejudice can't be broken. But if people expose the Prejudice Emperor as wearing no clothes, well, it might affect some change.
Quote #9
"Their forefathers said that we're only three-fifths human—and they believe it to this day." (24.43)
Grant is referring to the Three-Fifths Compromise, a decision between northern and southern states to count slaves as three-fifths of a human being for purposes of taxes and number of representatives in the House. That political decision helped cement prejudices about the worth of black people in the minds of Americans.