Is there anything specific you have in mind that Smith had which ‘modern race activists’ don’t? Smith certainly seems extraordinary but that Douglass remark se

Is there anything specific you have in mind that Smith had which ‘modern race activists’ don’t? Smith certainly seems extraordinary but that Douglass remark seems to be (at least in isolation) rather unclear—what sort of ‘understanding’ is meant here? And presumably Smith stood out amongst his contemporaries too, so neither ‘modern race activists’ nor nineteenth-century ‘race’ (or other) activists would in general be as talented as he was.