All previous attempts to establish such a journal having failed, I felt that probably I should but add another to the list of failures, and thus contribute another proof of the mental and moral deficiencies of my race.
From his autobiography, Douglass recounts his initial hesitation to start an abolitionist newspaper, fearing his failure would reinforce racist stereotypes about his race's capabilities.
Share
More from Frederick Douglass
Still another ground of hope I find in the fact that colored men are strong in their gratitude to benefactors, and firm in their political convictions.
The battle against popular prejudice will have been fought and won, and in common with all other races and colors, we shall have an equal chance in the race of life.
An exceptionally poor and dependent people will be despised by the opulent and despise themselves.
Pardon me, therefore, for urging upon you, my people, the importance of saving your earnings; of denying yourselves in the present, that you may have something in the future, of consuming less for yourselves that your children may have a…