<p>The focal point of the magazine's efforts in this respect came with the rise of Marcus Garvey, the gifted Jamaican leader whose "back to Africa" movement, as it was popularly called, was founded on the premise, according to Du Bois, that "a black skin was in itself a sort of patent to nobility."</p>
<p>In line 31, "patent to" most nearly means
(A) copyright of
(B) safeguard of
(C) guarantee of
(D) hope for
(E) permission for</p>
<p>Why is it C? Please give me the evidence and explain how it supports it. Why can't it be D or E?</p>
<p>Well, if you look at the sentence, I think Garvey is basically making this movement called “back to Africa” in which it seems he is boosting the African morale. The words “was in itself a sort of” was a giveaway to me, because they dont want to be outright obnoxious about it, rather they want to remain humble somewhat by saying they are “guaranteed” a patent to nobility"</p>
<p>i think cheng is right. it says that “a black skin was in itself a sort of patent to nobility.”
which means that according to Du Bois, black skin guarantees nobility. </p>
<p>consequently, i got this question wrong as well. :p</p>
<p>well, in my opinion, nothing else quite makes sense. A, E, and D dont make sense since this jarvey guy was quite a radical thinker in the traditional sense-meaning instead of rights, he wanted to move back to africa.</p>
<p>Many recently free blacks of that time were encouraged (by white men who thought of them as a threat) to return to their African homelands. “Nobility” refers to the people of similar hereditary status that are “notable” or well-known in a society. It is a sign of control. In this case, Africans would be the nobility and not the minority in Africa. The proponents of the “back to Africa” movement essentially guaranteed them something to that effect. Du Bois historically said that black men should feel proud of themselves and their ancestors in the same way white people feel superior. The “back to Africa” movement was founded on the premise that, as Du Bois talked about, blacks were “sort of” guaranteed nobility in the same way whites had been guaranteed a relatively higher social status, especially in places with widespread slavery. The “sort of” makes the statement less offensive. The idea here does not connote a racist idea that blacks are better than whites–that they are guaranteed something whites are not; it just expresses that black people of that time period be more optimistic, or something like that.</p>
<p>The premise of the movement didn’t really have much to do with a “hope” for nobility or a “permission” for nobility. It was a bit more literal: blacks could be thought of as guaranteed nobility. I guess you could call it a “radical” thing as kbbm24 implied.</p>