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Compare And Contrast Essay On African Americans

1239 Words5 Pages

Zoish Bhagwagar
Amanda Ford
AP Language
2 April 2023
Diverse Voices Essay
The dictionary defines “other” as a person or thing that is distinct from one already mentioned, however, the word has a deeper meaning. Sherman Alexie, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Fredrick Douglass are three authors with personal experiences that cast them out which gives a further viewpoint of the hardships being an "other" can bring. Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of Between the World and Me, writes about his experiences as an African American in his country and the hardships he faced. Likewise, Sherman Alexie, author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, demonstrates the obstacles he encounters as the only Indian boy in a predominantly white area. Frederick Douglass, …show more content…

All three authors characterize the prejudice they are met with as minorities during their times. This demonstration of brutalities and injustices experienced defines being an “other” as experiencing the affliction caused by the inherent injustices within society.
Each author describes being an “other” as feeling isolated in society due to their racial identity. Either physically or psychologically, each author described the notion of loneliness due to the segregation in their environment and how they are perceived. Coates emphasizes this isolation by contrasting the “raft of second chances” for Whites in opposition to the “twenty-three-hour days” that he and those who identify as black must endure (Coates 91). Coates portrays the image of a raft to highlight how racial distinction results in seclusion. Coates metaphorically expresses his isolation in a physical sense to describe the extremity of the solitude he faced. Like Coates, Alexie captures the …show more content…

Coates identifies the partiality that he faces as an “inescapable robbery of time” which is a “defining feature of being drafted into the black race” (Coates 91). Because of his status as a black man, Coates must always devote his energies to his own safety. This additional need betrays his fundamental human right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as the inequitable system he lives under interferes with his ability to live his life freely. These inequalities stem from the experiences Douglass also faced when he expresses, “I was broken in body, soul, and spirit” to capture how he was dehumanized by the treatment he received as a slave in America (Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass 1). Slavery does not uphold the American ideals to which every individual is entitled to. Being an African American in his time, Douglass is imposed with brutalities which invalidates him as a man. The brutalities he faces are a result of how society was constructed to support whites and put down those who are different. Alexie captures this same notion by highlighting his efforts to find his place in society were pointless since he was “a loser Indian son living in a world built for winners” (Alexie 1). Alexie’s atmosphere pressures him and diminishes his freedom of expression. The society built around providing

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After eavesdropping on his white owner as to why education was forbidden for slaves, Douglass came to a shocking realization. “These words sank deep into my heart, stirred up sentiments…, and called into existence an entirely new train of thought… I now understood… the white man’s power to enslave the black man… From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom.” The imagery in this excerpt helps discuss how deeply the words affected Douglass and how, in turn, these words allowed him to come to the most life-changing moment of his life.

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To further undermine the morals and values of the white civilians, Douglass calls into question how the white population can declare themselves human when they are demoralizing and abusing the vulnerable African Americans as if they do not carry any innate human ethics such as the fair treatment of others, pointing out the discrepancy in the white, American character. Therefore, this causes the white audience to reevaluate their stand point on the ethical righteousness of slavery, as their morality is challenged and the principles of equality and natural rights, embedded in the Declaration, contradict with their slave-holding

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Douglass expressed that during the time of his life when he had been sent to live with Mr. Covey he was broken in not only body, but in soul and spirit as well (Douglass 1210.) When Douglass says,”You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man,” (Douglass 1211) the theme of perseverance is most evident. After he had been broken down to almost nothing, Douglass rose from the ashes and fought back; he fought Mr. Covey with all of his might just as if he were fighting slavery itself in human form (Douglass 1214.) This highlights again the key differences of the struggles of a male and a female who are reaching for the same gift of freedom. His main fears were only whether he would win the fight, since to preserve his reputation Mr. Covey could never send him before others.

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Once Mr. Auld finds that Mrs. Auld is teaching Douglass to read, Mrs. Auld is told that it is “unsafe” when a “slave [learns] to read” (Douglass 20). This experience shows Douglass that if he continues to become more educated, he will be treated more and more inhumanely because owners will think he is a “threat” to them. Even though being a “threat” merely means losing money at most, it is enough for slave owners to choose not to educate their slaves. While Douglass felt evocative of this experience, he realized that the experience showed him “the pathway from slavery” (Douglass 20). From that moment on, Douglass knew that at some point in his life, he would be a free man, no matter what it took.

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His “Narrative of the Life of Federick Douglass” focuses on the hardships of slavery and the effects they have on a spiritual and mental level. He states that the first months of living with Covey were the hardest in his life. “I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute!”(Douglass). The courage one must obtain to be able to just live the life of any slave is insurmountable.

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The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a very powerful and important piece of work when it comes to understanding the dehumanization and harsh treatment of the slaves in Pre-Civil War United States. Frederick Douglass uses crucial detail in his narrative to make the reader understand just how badly the slaves were truly treated and how profoundly unequal slaves were from everyone else during this time. Douglass uses many rhetorical strategies throughout his narrative in order to really shape how the readers are going to interpret the narrative, and to allow the reader to develop an understanding of his major theme of dehumanization. He uses detailed descriptions of brutal beatings, repeatedly mentions the contrast between the white citizens and black

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Between the World and Me, written by Ta-Nehisi Coates is a powerful book written as a letter from the author to his teenage son. This book outlines the race issue in America from a first hand perspective. The author explains his struggles and fears as he grew up and how those fears transformed into a new meaning as he reached adulthood. Through his personal story, the reader is offered insight into the lives of other African Americans and how they may experience racial injustice themselves.

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This feeling of restriction and inability to socialize contradicts Douglass’s new freedom. Even though life as a slave was much harder, certain aspects of his life were more concrete, and as a free man, they are more

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Fredrick Douglass’ primary intent for writing this autobiography is to expose the horrific realities of slavery to white readers and convince them that he has humanity. In order to do so he shares events in his life that required a great amount of courage. These anecdotes of courage appeal to readers’ ethos and pathos, causing them to sympathize with Douglass and admire his unwavering courage. Therefore, in admiring his courage, white readers are able to recognize Douglass’ humanity because he refuses to become dehumanized by slavery and become his own man. One of Douglass’ most admirable form of courage is his emotional strength.

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Douglass points to the vast unwillingness from the group of whites that refuses to fully perceive and accept African-Americans as deserving and equal citizens of the nation. Based on his personal experiences as a slave, Douglass is abundantly aware that the battle to abolish slavery is not an easy task. For the first twenty years of his life, he witnessed firsthand the abject cruelty of that institution in our country. Tactfully, Douglass seizes this opportunity to publicly highlight the unmerited and coarse differences in the treatment between the whites as opposed to the blacks living in the United States during this time period. He makes a “powerful testaments to the hypocrisy, bigotry and inhumanity of slavery” (Bunch 1).

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Douglass stated, “What am I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to rob them of their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow-men, to beat them with sticks, to flay their flesh with the lash, to load their limbs with irons, to hunt them with dogs, to sell them at auction, to sunder their families, to knock out their teeth, to burn their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to their masters?” He successfully expresses his pain and anger in this quote by providing images of his and his people’s suffering. He tapped into the emotions of his audience, such as mothers, workers, and those who have felt physically pain by exposing them to the amplified struggles he and others had to face. Nonetheless, he continually reminded the audience, both explicitly and subliminally, that his group of people are too human, and that the only difference they share is the color of their skin. He is pleading his cases and hoping that it gets across to his audience in hope they will do the right

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Douglass is a African American that was a slave and did a Narrative about his time being a slave and in his Narrative he “threw light” at the American slave system. African American slave Frederick Douglass lived through a time of racism and how slavery was a natural thing to do but was a very awful thing. And slavery is when families who had colored skin were separated and sold of to a person that can do anything to them, the slave is pretty much like the slaveholder’s property. And in this essay I will talk about how Douglass’s position differs from those who supported slavery and also I will be talking about How Douglass used his Narrative to share his position. How Douglass “throws light” on the American Slave system is by showing

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Ta-Nehisi Coates has written a masterpiece in Between the World and Me, a letter to his son about: the system “white” people use to oppress black people; codes to live by in order to protect your body; and The Mecca, a safe haven for all black people. The central argument of Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates is that “white” people oppress black people so they can live in “The Dream.” The “Dream” that Coates’ talks about is the upward social mobility of “white” people through the oppression of black people, creating a gap between between the world’s of “white” people and black people. The “Dreamers” achieve “The Dream” through heritage, a network of laws, police brutality, suburbs and red lining, mass incarceration, and small and

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In the Narrative, Fredrick Douglass uses his own personal experiences as an African-American slave in the South to paint a unique and vivid picture of the effects slavery has on both himself and those around him. The story of how Douglass went from a slave to a free man not only serves as a historically important piece of literature, but also raises questions about how slavery changes a person. While Douglass’s Narrative is autobiographical in nature, he analyzes many aspects of his past in order to make sense of his enslavement and how it formed his beliefs about the world around him. One of the most pivotal moments in Douglass’s work is his physical fight with Mr. Covey. This struggle affects Douglass psychologically and serves as a turning point in his life.

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“With them, justice, liberty and humanity were “final”; not slavery and oppression.” This relates to the hardships and the fact that the people don’t recognize how terrible it is. And that these meanings of these “free” words mean something else to him and other slaves. He shows that the changes are hard but once they are made everything will be peaceful. Rhetorical features and strategies are Douglass’ forte’ in engaging with the audience.

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