Slaves, too, readily distinguish between the birthright bearing of the original slaveholder and the assumed attitudes of the accidental slaveholder; and while they cannot respect either, they certainly despise the latter more than the former.
In his autobiography, Douglass explains how enslaved people perceived the difference between inherited and accidental slaveholders.
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More from Frederick Douglass
Put us in Kansas or in Africa, and until we learn to save more than we spend, we are sure to sink and perish.
The laws which determine the destinies of individuals and nations are impartial and eternal.
I will not listen, myself, and I would not have you listen to the nonsense, that no people can succeed in life among a people by whom they have been despised and oppressed.
Taking all the circumstances into consideration, the colored people have no reason to despair.