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One would never defeat one’s circumstances by working and saving one’s pennies; one would never, by working, acquire that many pennies, and, besides, the social treatment accorded even the most successful Negroes proved that one needed, in order to be free, something more than a bank account.

Letter from a Region in My Mind

Can I understand the bold word as "accorded that"?

Thank you.

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  • Accord has a ditransitive use meaning "confer, grant" which is what is in play here. You may paraphrase: "Society granted even the most successful Negroes a treatment which proved that one needed, &c"
    – StoneyB on hiatus
    Commented Jun 20, 2015 at 23:48
  • @stonyB Can we say "the social treatment accorded ///to/// even the most successful Negroes proved"? or you can't because it is in a ditransitive use?
    – whitecap
    Commented Jun 21, 2015 at 0:18
  • Yes, you may. As with most ditransitives, the recipient may be realized with either an indirect object of the verb or a preposition phrase.
    – StoneyB on hiatus
    Commented Jun 21, 2015 at 0:39

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In this sense, verb "accord" means to grant. The sentence means that the societal recognition automatically granted to rich white people was withheld from black citizens no matter how rich. The noun "accord" means an agreement that often includes two parties mutually granting or withholding rights and privileges. Thus the phrasing "accorded to" in the passive and the word "social" modifying "treatment," tell us that this is a societal agreement.

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This meaning is closer to "given to". I'll edit when I figure out why.

Edit: yeah, I have no clue why. This is a very dated meaning, but it still came to me immediately. It's passive, so it means "that is given to" here.

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