Summary Of The Color Line By Frederick Douglass

Report on classical reading: Douglass ‘The Color Line’ (1881) (1000 words)

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery and later escaped it in 1838, he later became one of the most influential abolitionists of his time. In his publication of ‘The Color Line’ (1881), Douglass explores the ideas of racial subordination, prejudice, and the reforms that later followed, all of which will be discussed further along with an examination of contemporary cases drawing on these concepts.

The legacy of slavery was still very much apparent after the traumatic event in America. Frederick Douglass recounts the experiences of black people following its abolition ‘He has escaped from the galleys, and hence all presumptions made against him’ (Douglass, 1881,

An article written by Vox in 2018 probed the ‘criminalization of blackness’ and divulged into the unlawful implementation of racial profiling due to the suspicions ethnic minorities are met with in regard to the law. An exhibit of this can be seen in a particular instance taking place in Minnesota whereby four black teenagers were detained by police officers, with one drawing his weapon after a woman had called claiming the teenagers had used weapons to assault a white man. This later proved to be false (P.R. Lockhart, 2018). From this instance alone, it is unequivocal the phrase ‘innocent until proven guilty’; ironically stemming from the U.S. constitution, does not apply in the case of minority groups, furthermore, there is compelling data to suggest that black people are arrested disproportionately. In 2019-2020 there were six stops of white people per 1,000 which increased to eight in 2020-2021 in comparison to this black people were stopped and searched at 54 stops per 1,000 people (Gov.uk, 2022). Systemic racism could be a possible explanation for this disparity and an argument could be made that ethnic minorities are therefore overlooked in times of need resulting in a complete lack of trust in the law and its

Stephen Lawrence was only 18 years old when he was brutally attacked after being racially abused by a gang of white teens; prior to this the teens had been linked to other racist incidents in the area. However, in a controversial twist of events, the police attempted to threaten and handcuff Stephen’s close friend Duwayne Brooks as opposed to conducting door-to-door investigations to track his killers; inevitably contributing to the lack of evidence and their prosecution. Douglass reinforces the idea that a person of colour is almost always subconsciously ‘presumed to have been guilty of the outrage upon himself’ (Douglass, 1881, p.569) insinuating a person of colour, whether they are a victim of crime are still faced with the law perceiving them as ‘the real criminal’ and the perpetrators, innocent. The Macpherson report concluded the investigation into Stephen Lawrence’s death was decrepit due to the professional incompetence of those leading it and the racial bias of the police force; statistics reveals ethnic minority police officers made up only 7% of the ranks in comparison with 14% of the population as well as being twice as likely to be dismissed (The Guardian, 2021). The recommendations made by the Macpherson report were vital in highlighting racial injustices at the hands of the police whilst holding them