Douglas's Words

After reading what Douglas had to say during his 4th of July speech I was very moved to see how he fed the American people his views on slavery through a nonviolent way. He was a freed slave himself and was given the opportunity and chosen to present this speech and he used it to his advantage. The oppression of African Americans continued even after the abolition of slavery, and he wanted to make known this fact on a more widespread view. Many white people of the time seemed to have the idea that African Americans were below them on the mental level and he basically showed them they were completely wrong. Through his speech, he showed that even him, a black man, could be well educated and be a strong member of society. During his speech he brought a new light onto white people by explaining that on that day of freedom, while the whites and whoever else had come to America to be free were celebrating their independence, the African Americans could not because although the holiday was for everyone, they still did not feel included in the festivities because of the way they were being treated still. Now he had a choice, he could have been arrogant and rude as he portrayed his message to the people but rather than do that, he politely explained to them thoroughly through wonderfully educated words that what had been going on was absolutely wrong and needed to be changed. Through this nonviolent protest he gave out his message and people actually heard and felt what he was saying rather than just hear his words. As I've said before I often feel that nonviolent ways tend to get people no where but in this case, a new light is starting to be shown upon me.