In childhood he had considered me scarcely inferior to himself,--certainly quite as good as any other boy with whom he played--but the time had come when his friend must be his slave.
Douglass reflects on the tragic transformation of a childhood friendship, where the societal institution of slavery ultimately dictated the relationship.
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The father might be a white man, glorying in the purity of his Anglo-Saxon blood, and his child ranked with the blackest slaves.
My grandmother was all the world to me, and the thought of being separated from her was a most unwelcome suggestion to my affections and hopes.
But we are not here to applaud manly courage, save as it has been displayed in a noble cause.