Equiano shows that freedom for slaves in the Atlantic ended up being a new kind of persecution because of the color of their skin. Throughout Equiano, prejudice is evident everywhere towards people of color. Because of this prejudice, Equiano sometimes thinks enslaved Africans were better off than freed slaves. Any slave or freed slave had no rights, but a slave had a master that would look out for him because he was the master’s property. As a freed slave no one cared about them, and they could be taken advantage of or killed with little to no consequences. In chapter 7, Equiano gets into a fight with a slave. At this point, he had been newly freed and did not have a master. When the slave’s master found out about the fight, he demanded that Equiano was to be beaten publicly. Equiano refused to leave the ship and hid because he knew what could happen to free slaves. They had no rights or protections. Eventually, the captain of the ship convinced Mr. Read to leave Equiano alone. Even though Equiano was a free man, he was not treated like he was free. He was still subject to white man’s persecution with no protection except for friends. …show more content…
If that wasn’t enough, new rules could be crafted by white men to persecute further slaves and freed slaves. In chapter 8, Equiano goes to visit his friend Mose. During his time there some watchmen stopped for refreshments. The watchmen made claims that Equiano and his friend were breaking the law. Because Mose was a slave, he had the protection of his master. Equiano, on the other hand, had no protection. He ended up getting out of the situation by calling on his friend, Dr. Brady, but he was much more vulnerable than his enslaved