And ANOTHER Douglass — a black one — had THIS bit of advice. His words are as timely NOW as it was when he uttered them.
“Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate
agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.
They want rain without thunder and lightening. They want the
ocean without the awful roar of its waters.
This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical
one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a
struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never
did, and it never will. Find out just what a people will submit
to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and
wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue
until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both.
The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those
whom they oppress.” Frederick Douglass August 4, 1857
Give the clearly expressed intentions of a contemporary black man, we may well find ourselves having to once again impose Douglass’ limits.
“Find out just what a people will submit
to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and
wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue
until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both.
The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those
whom they oppress.” Frederick Douglass August 4, 1857”
Douglass describes our current situation.
There is nothing new under the sun.
Wow....great quote!
Post 7
Below are two events that always struck me about Douglas, who, with rudimentary help from Sophia and his white playmates learned basic skills that allowed him to begin his quest for learning. We now have people who have resources for learning that Douglas could not have imagined, yet they are ignorant and wear that ignorance as a badge of honor, guess that makes them stupid. We have much to learn from previous generations and would benefit greatly by following their commitment to honor and duty.
“When Douglass was about twelve, Hugh Auld’s wife, Sophia, started teaching him the alphabet, thereby breaking the law against teaching slaves to read. When Sophia’s husband discovered this, he strongly disapproved, saying that if a slave learned to read, he would become dissatisfied with his condition and desire freedom”
“Douglass succeeded in learning to read from white children in the neighborhood and by observing the writings of men with whom he worked.
As he learned and began to read newspapers, political materials, and books of every description, the young Douglass was exposed to a new realm of thought that led him to question and then condemn the institution of slavery”