Analysis Of Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave

In the short story titled, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave”, written by Frederick Douglass, the narrator experiences prejudice and racism towards him because of the color of his skin. Likewise, in the autobiography titled Dreams Of My Father, by Barack Obama, the author describes his early life growing up and how he dealt with the discrimination that he was faced with throughout his life. In both of these stories, the two writers opposed the inequality against them simply based on their skin color. Although both of the books were written from different times of history, before and after the prohibition of slavery, both of the authors believed that knowledge was power and believed that to resist against the maltreatment …show more content…
Frederick Douglass and Barack Obama both teach their fellow African Americans how to read, which rids them of the lack of knowledge that white people try to enforce on them. Obama informs the members of a poor black community that they are being ignored about by the building officials, as he states, “It was a legal notice, in small print, run in the classified section. It said that the CHA was soliciting bids from qualified contractors to remove asbestos from Altgeld’s management office. I asked the parents if any of them had been notified about potential asbestos exposure. They shook their heads.” (Obama 356-357). In doing this, Obama uncovers to the members of the community that the managers keep the buildings in poor quality. Correspondingly, Frederick Douglass teaches the African Americans who attend his Sabbath school how to read, in which he states, “I devoted three evenings in the week...several of those who came to Sabbath school learned how to read; and that one, at least, is now free through my agency.“ (Douglass 69,71). Douglass’ teachings causes his fellow African Americans to become educated about the treatment that they receive from the white people. The two narrators both resist against the white people by …show more content…
The resistant actions of both speakers influenced many African Americans to speak out against the racism, leading to other African Americans to see this example and speak out as well, thus causing a chain reaction. Both authors have affected the lives of many other African Americans and motivate them to making change. Because of the speeches and actions that the writers have performed, they have improved the culture of the African Americans by freeing the lack of understanding on their minds. Barack Obama and Frederick Douglass have accomplished in creating hope for African Americans and making them believe that they are more than the white man’s