We should all read Fedrick Douglass

Fredick Douglass was always deemed a dynamic and brilliant writing in my highschool English classes. One speech of his and I was caught by surprise. Although, highschool protected me from Douglass’s gruesome works. It was not until I came to University that I read any of his books or such. Since, I have realized why the district never approved to have his work in schools. The amount of unruly parents would have caused a riot in classrooms. The cruelty he exhibits in his book is not like any I have seen before. Slavery was always talked about in class, but teacher commonly stated how it was terrible rather than explaining in vivid detail what made it terrible.  While reading Douglass's book I  was most intrigued by what he remembered and the behavior of a slave. 

For instance, he wrote about his fondest memories and horrific memories. What intrigues me is what stuck with him throughout the course of his life. I can imagine that he did not learn to write until later in his life; yet, he describes situations he experienced as a slave as if he wrote it that same day given the level of detail and precision.  Therefore, it draws the reader to assume that these moments have been engraved into his thoughts. He was able to recall explicitly his life as a slave. 

On the other hand, I was fascinated by the cruelty described by Douglass when it came to slave masters. High school told about the pressures and struggles that slaves went through but  they never described what it was like to be a slave during the slave era. For instance, the most teachers would explain would be by stating that the experience was unimaginable. In that sense, I was stunned to read Douglass explain how the head of women would be whipped. Also, I never knew that the children were not given clothes. I didn't even know that the slaves slept on the floor with barely any cover to shield them from the cold.

All in all, Douglass’s experience as a slave has opened my eyes to what it was like to be a slave. Being from Louisiana, teachers did not explain in detail the brute force that slave masters exhibited on their slaves. Even so, students would be taken to the plantation and shown the slaves cabin with no knowledge of how a slave lived. For the longest time my education and knowledge was filtered.