The use of slave women as day workers naturally broke up or made impossible the normal Negro home, and this and the slave code led to a development of which the South was really ashamed and which it often denied, and yet perfectly evident: the raising of slaves in the Border slave states for systematic sale on the commercialized cotton plantations.

The quote from W. E. B. Du Bois explores the historical consequences of slavery in the Southern United States, particularly the impact on family structures and the economic system. Du Bois highlights how the use of slave women as day workers disrupted the traditional family unit among enslaved people. By forcing women to work away from their homes, their ability to care for children and maintain family bonds was compromised, making it difficult for stable families to form. This breakdown of family life was a direct result of the slave system and the dehumanizing conditions it imposed.

Du Bois goes on to explain how this system, combined with the slave code, led to the exploitation of enslaved people in a more commercialized manner. The slave code, a set of laws that restricted the rights of enslaved people, played a crucial role in enabling the systematic sale of enslaved individuals. In particular, the Border slave states became key sources for selling enslaved people to the cotton plantations further South, where slavery was integral to the agricultural economy. This commercialization of human lives was a deeply entrenched aspect of the Southern economy.

Du Bois emphasizes that this practice, though shameful and often denied by Southern society, was undeniable and visible. The sale of enslaved people for profit was a significant yet hidden feature of the South's economy, one that many sought to ignore or justify. Despite the attempts to conceal this shameful reality, Du Bois argues that it was an evident and undeniable truth of the system that commodified enslaved people for economic gain.

Ultimately, Du Bois' quote calls attention to the dehumanizing impact of slavery on both the individuals who were enslaved and the broader social fabric of the South. It points out the injustice of using human beings as mere property for economic exploitation while disrupting the basic unit of society, the family. This analysis critiques the moral hypocrisy of a system that justified its existence by exploiting people on an industrial scale.