Frederick Douglass
May. 15th, 2023 10:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dragoness_eMore gems from Disqus
2012-04-05:
I can attest that Mr. Douglass is sadly neglected in American schools, except as a footnote to the slavery issue. I read his biography and several of his speeches as an adult, downloaded off Project Gutenberg, and they are absolutely searing. I finally understood why so many people find the display of the Confederate Battle Flag, or incorporation of parts of it in state flags, so offensive. Waving that flag in front of a black person must be like waving the flag of Nazi Germany in front of the descendant of a concentration camp survivor. It's beyond bad taste, to put it mildly.
I personally think his "Life and Times" and the very thinly fictional "Uncle Tom's Cabin" should be required reading in school. (A number of the incidents in "Uncle Tom's Cabin" are either taken from Douglass's biography, or that sort of thing was horrifyingly wide-spread and notorious). People need to understand not only how bad slavery was for the slaves, but how pervasive and corrupting it was to every race and class and station of life. It's still corrupting our public discourse.
2012-04-05:
I can attest that Mr. Douglass is sadly neglected in American schools, except as a footnote to the slavery issue. I read his biography and several of his speeches as an adult, downloaded off Project Gutenberg, and they are absolutely searing. I finally understood why so many people find the display of the Confederate Battle Flag, or incorporation of parts of it in state flags, so offensive. Waving that flag in front of a black person must be like waving the flag of Nazi Germany in front of the descendant of a concentration camp survivor. It's beyond bad taste, to put it mildly.
I personally think his "Life and Times" and the very thinly fictional "Uncle Tom's Cabin" should be required reading in school. (A number of the incidents in "Uncle Tom's Cabin" are either taken from Douglass's biography, or that sort of thing was horrifyingly wide-spread and notorious). People need to understand not only how bad slavery was for the slaves, but how pervasive and corrupting it was to every race and class and station of life. It's still corrupting our public discourse.
