On the recordJanuary 1, 1855
Ignorance is a high virtue in a human chattel; and as the master studies to keep the slave ignorant, the slave is cunning enough to make the master think he succeeds.
Said by
Frederick Douglass
Source
gutenberg.orgFrederick Douglass: “Ignorance is a high virtue in a human chattel; and as the master studies to keep the slave ignorant, the slave is…”
Editor's note · Context
Douglass describes the perverse value placed on ignorance for enslaved people and the subtle ways enslaved individuals navigate this oppressive system.
Share
More from Frederick Douglass
Jan 1, 1881
I wished it was possible I could remain small all my life, knowing that the sooner I grew large the shorter would be my time to remain with them.
Jan 1, 1881
We (the people of the North) are a charitable people, and in the excess of this feeling we were disposed to put the very best construction upon the strange behavior of our southern brethren.
Jan 1, 1881
His iron sentences, cold and harsh, sunk like heavy weights deep into my heart, and stirred up within me a rebellion not soon to be allayed.