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Stereotypes Of Frederick Douglass: An American Through Education

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In the wise words of Malcolm X, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” Education is the act of giving and receiving valuable information. Education leads to advanced knowledge and improves one's life choices by providing important experiences. Literacy is key to expanding knowledge and gaining the ability to self-express. Education is an important instrument that empowers individuals to break free from unfortunate situations, as well as challenge stereotypes they may be faced with.
Education offers freedom to individuals trying to escape adverse conditions. Among other situations, adverse conditions might include slavery or incarceration. In the case of Frederick Douglass, an American …show more content…

One stereotype that education challenges is that of the “dumb Indian”. For example, Sherman Alexie grew up on an Indian reservation where the children were “expected to be stupid” (Alexie 107), and the majority of the children fulfilled those expectations. Alexie sought to break through these stereotypes and educated himself by reading comic books, especially Superman. He displayed an exceptional level of dedication to his pursuit of literacy, as he states in his autobiography that he “read books late into the night, until [he] could barely keep his eyes open” (107). Alexie defeated the stereotype of the dumb Indian and became a renowned writer. Similarly, when Malcolm X was in junior high school, he was faced with the stereotype that “becoming a lawyer was unrealistic for an African American” (99). He turned to a life of crime and ended up in prison. While in prison, Malcolm X sees a fellow inmate and envies his knowledge. Because of Malcolm’s situation, he decided that he should use his free time to educate himself. Once being released from prison, because of his education, people would “think [he] went to school beyond the eighth grade” (96). He went on to become an American Muslim minister, and was a vocal supporter for black empowerment, defeating the stereotype of African Americans not having promising

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No one had advanced faster than Frederick Douglass during the era of self-made man in American. He defied the laws of Maryland by learning how to read and write, after all Frederick owner’s wife was his teacher along with other Caucasian children (Fonder, 395). Fredrick’s life would be different from slaves, he worked as a skill craftsman and a house servant before working the field of a plantation. So, Fredrick Douglass soon faced many floggings to break his self-determine and free spirit. Instead of oppressing his spirit, Fredrick became more determine to pursue a new career.

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Getting education isn’t only to impart knowledge, but strengthen motivation that propels learners to work on what they are willing to become. Malcolm X is an good example of a self-educated articulate and powerful black American leader who was vocal against racism and fought for the right of the black American. In the essay “Learning to Read”, Malcolm X identifies how motivated attitude can push someone to further academic career. He says, “let me tell us something: from then until I left that prison, in every free moment I had, if I was not reading in the library, I was reading on my bunk”(page 162). Malcolm recounts his experience on reading journey with motivation of self-education because he understand without the ability to read, a basic

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He was an African American Muslim Minister, and a human rights activists. He has been called one of the most

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Here, Douglass expresses his sadness of the fact that slave owners would refuse the education to any slave, claiming that it would just damage the slave even more. This was just one way of eliminating any possibility of a slave to try to compete against a slave

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Malcolm X was a prominent African American civil rights leader and activist during the late 1900s. Prior to his role as a civil rights trailblazer, Malcolm X was an inarticulate hustler who was sentenced to ten years in prison on burglary charges. It was in prison that Malcolm X had acquired a taste for education and he could not stop yearning for more; as a result, he began to study tirelessly. Throughout “a Homemade Education”, Malcolm X appeals to one’s sense of ethics, logic, and emotion by utilizing his own personal experiences to stress that everyone should educate themselves and thus gather an understanding about the world. When in prison Malcolm X had attempted to emulate a man named Bimbi, a fellow prison mate whom he had looked up

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In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass reveals a way to acquire freedom through education. As a child, Frederick Douglass possessed no knowledge of his genuine identity. A desire to obtain such information generated the feelings of sadness, unhappiness, and misery

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In “A Homemade Education,” Malcolm X expresses that reading and increasing your knowledge is extremely important and that it has helped him understand black history and slavery. Malcolm X was very frustrated with himself because he could not convey what he wanted to say when it came to writing simple English. Many people, who have heard Malcolm X on television or read something he wrote, would have thought that he had obtained an education “beyond the eight grade” (1). Malcolm X claims that this impression of him is a result of him studying during his prison sentence. It began when he met a man named Bimbi in the Charlestown Prison, where he felt as if he was far less knowledgeable than him.

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Slaves obtaining knowledge or an education were then viewed as unmanageable. One can see that through Frederick Douglass’s gain of education; Slavery began to look more than an imprisonment and his mind would not cease to think. With this depressing state of mind, Douglass would begin to plot for ways to obtain his education. Despite living in a country were teaching slaves was unpardonable, Frederick Douglass began to incorporate various ways for his education. He would hide in a separate room and would be suspected by his mistress that he could be reading a book.

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In fact, he argues that slavery and education are polar opposites. He works towards making himself free by expanding his understanding through reading. While still determined to physically escape, Douglass recognizes that education allows him to escape his situation even when enslaved. Douglass believes that his mind can be free even when his body is not. At some points, Douglass worries that, “I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing.

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Ultimately, Frederick Douglass’s upbringing as a slave and his pursuit of education transformed him into an indomitable force against slavery. His early experiences as a child, his acquisition of literacy, and his subsequent dedication to educating others were pivotal in shaping his identity and fueling his passionate advocacy for equality through his eloquent speeches and writings, Douglass exposed the inherent cruelty of slavery and inspired countless individuals to join the fight for freedom and justice. His journey from bondage to empowerment remains a testament to the transformative power of education and the unwavering resilience of the human

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Douglass managed to overcome the maltreatment of his wretched slave owners through the eventual attainment of freedom. The injustice imposed upon the African-American slaves by their owners was the crux of Douglass’s motivation to escape this inhumane life. Adolescents in today’s society could use Frederick’s determination as an example of moving forward to better oneself or one’s situation regardless of

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Douglass also discusses the importance of education and how it played a crucial role in his own life. He describes how he taught himself to read and write, despite the fact that it was illegal for slaves to receive an education. Douglass's commitment to education is an inspiring example of the power of knowledge and the importance of intellectual

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Human slavery requires ignorance, just as an individual’s freedom, from oppression, requires knowledge attained by education. To maintain order and control over slaves, slavery demands ignorant slaves; thus, keeping slaves ignorant prevents slaves from recognizing the empowering value of education and education’s ability to liberate slaves from the effects of ignorance. Frederick Douglass’s pursuit of education helped him discover the dark, hidden truths of slavery in his article, “How I Learned to Read and Write.” Thus, the pursuit of education inspires a desire for freedom. The desire to learn generates determination and motivation.

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An education often opens new doors for people, but how does a lack of an education affect other people? What causes such a stark difference between people with knowledge and people no knowledge at all? In the Narrative of Frederick Douglass an American Slave we can see that Douglass is more intelligent than the other slaves on the plantation he is living on due to his hidden ability to read. With his level of education, he is able to see the brutal mistreatment of slaves and is unable to look at things the same way when he was an uneducated slave. The slaves on the plantation do not know how to read and therefore do not view being a slave the way Douglass views it.

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Education gives us the power and right to freely think, act, and speak.  Douglass strongly trusts on the skills of an educated thinker to attain freedom,”The struggle for literacy, for command over the power of words, was the

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