Frederick Douglass: The Hardship Of Being An African-American

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It’s a never ending story of fear for an African-American living in the United States during the 1800s. Even if they are residing in a free state, a white, even a black, person is liable to sell them back to the South. Fear is a common friend of African-Americans. In his speech, Frederick Douglass conveys to his audience the hardship of being an African-American, the paranoia that consumes his mind and the weariness emitted due to it. Douglass refers to himself as a constant prey of the people. He recounts the moments where “[he] was afraid to speak to any one for fear of… falling into the hands of money-loving kidnappers, whose business it was to lie in wait for the panting fugitive, as the ferocious beasts lie in wait for their prey” (37-43).

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