Maria W. Stewart, a free African-American, gave a lecture in Boston, 1832 that explains the lack of rich or affluent black people in the United States. America has been independent from Britain for almost 60 years when this lecture was delivered, and would not fight the Civil War for another 30 years. This Antebellum era was when slavery and its profits made up the entirety of the Southern economy. Free blacks in the North and South were harshly discriminated against, as they could not vote, would not get the job opportunities, and could be forced back into slavery unless able to prove their freedom at any moment. Stewart uses the rhetorical strategies of allusions through similes and parallel structure to prove that the lack of rich or affluent black people in the US was not due to laziness and complacency, but rather oppression caused by white society.
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They would often work in the house of a rich white man, in which they would be “washing windows, shaking carpets, brushing boots, or tending upon gentlemen’s tables.” Stewart’s use of parallel structure when describing the jobs given to African-Americans highlights the repetitive nature of these jobs. They spend the entire day doing these manual tasks, leaving little time for anything that can develop their skills as a worker. Also, these jobs do not have any other position one can be promoted into, meaning black people will be stuck in these low-paying, low-class jobs. Oppression from white society is clearly shown in the repetitive nature of the jobs they are forced into and in lack of career progress black people are able to make while working these jobs. Stewart proves that it is impossible for an African-American to hold a high ranking position in a company, as society has set up a system that prevents them from doing
They would often work in the house of a rich white man, in which they would be “washing windows, shaking carpets, brushing boots, or tending upon gentlemen’s tables.” Stewart’s use of parallel structure when describing the jobs given to African-Americans highlights the repetitive nature of these jobs. They spend the entire day doing these manual tasks, leaving little time for anything that can develop their skills as a worker. Also, these jobs do not have any other position one can be promoted into, meaning black people will be stuck in these low-paying, low-class jobs. Oppression from white society is clearly shown in the repetitive nature of the jobs they are forced into and in lack of career progress black people are able to make while working these jobs. Stewart proves that it is impossible for an African-American to hold a high ranking position in a company, as society has set up a system that prevents them from doing