project

Name
Instructor
Course
Date
Douglass’ Thinking on Slavery and Society into the Present-Day
Douglass was an abolitionist who exhibited strong stands in the fight against slavery. He was highly persevering, goal oriented, always quick to plan and strategize, timely, and patient. Haunted by the idea of freedom, all that Douglass wanted was to be freed from the bonds of slavery. He compared the life of slavery to that of animals. To him, both had no voice or rights. Through wit, handwork and determination, Douglass rose from being a slave to earning his livelihood and sense of satisfaction (Douglass 69-71). Throughout his abolitionist movement, he displayed a message that slavery is torture, that have a right to fair treatment and that we ought to only follow the human nature to be good to others. Like Sophia, slavery corrupts, dehumanizes and hardens good people. Even the overseers are corrupted and perverted by slavery as the master must adopt profane, violent and cruel ways.
Douglas could be too objective and skeptical about the confederation flag. It is reported that the Confederate flag represented the General Robert’s army of northern Virginia as the stars and not the collective confederate states of America. Many of the southerners who regard the flag as a symbol of dignity and their pride must be living in denial. The truth is it took nearly a full century after the Confederacy was defeated in the civil war for the Afro-natives to be regarded as American citizens. Even then, they still don’t have an equal right with the whites.

Racism is still underway although not as open as it was in the 1950s. Many whites still hold at the racism that fuelled the Confederacy defeat.
To Douglass, this was a significant step towards liberating the African-Americans. However, the flag can be no pride in the flag. Douglass would have disregarded it as a new culture and branded it as a continuation of the past culture in the disguise of unity but as a way to exercise modern slavery and racism. This is clearly indicated in his What to the Slave letter where he reminded people of the ancestor’s effort to liberate the slaves (Zirin 1-10). Modern racism is instigated through being locked out f major government projects, employment, and federal aids. Over the last fifty years, the blacks have been segregated, interracial marriage banned and locked out from accessing public facilities such as water fountains. The flag is thus a symbol of ‘pride’ in its literal meaning, and not a source of unity and heritage.
Alleging that the ‘Stars and Bars’ is not racism but an honor to the tradition of sacrifice for the cause of state’s rights is irony. For the slaves and people who fought for the abolition of slavery like Douglass, then the stars and bars would only remind them of the sufferings they went through when they were slaves. The stars are recognition of the white component of Southern US. As opposed to the belief that the stars and bars on the flag are an honor for the tradition of sacrifice, it was endorsed as the flag for the military and a representation of the southerner cultures. Currently, the cross has been used by militia groups maiming the initial aim of uniting the Confederates and the segregationists. Douglass could consider it as a sign of victory but discredit it due to the increased attitude of white supremacy over the issue.
The fundamental idea that the Confederates associated with the flag that ‘no black is equal to white man’ is the same ideology Douglass was fighting. He condemns those who maintain the flag as a symbol of dignity as it instigates racism and segregation of African-Americans in the modern world. I believe he would call for its abolition. As long as the Confederate flag shall be raised, the Southerners will always differ with the northerners and racism will continue to eat into the society.
Works Cited
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass. 1st ed. Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia Library, 1996. Print.
Zirin, Dave. “‘What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July?’ By Frederick Douglass”. The Nation. N.p., 2016. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.