On the recordJanuary 1, 1881
A look, a word, a gesture, accidental or intentional, never failed to be taken as impudence when he was in the right mood for such an offense.
Said by
Frederick Douglass
Source
gutenberg.orgFrederick Douglass: “A look, a word, a gesture, accidental or intentional, never failed to be taken as impudence when he was in the right…”
Editor's note · Context
From his autobiography, Douglass details the trivial actions that an overseer could interpret as "impudence" to justify violence against enslaved people.
Share
More from Frederick Douglass
Jan 1, 1881
It had no interest in recognizing or preserving any of the ties that bind families together or to their homes.
Jan 1, 1881
It was in the air, and men breathed it and were permeated by it, often when they were quite unconscious of its presence.
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
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.