But the most dreadful thing threatened, was a colored man at the Executive Mansion in white kid gloves, sparrow-tailed coat, patent leather boots, and alabaster cravat, performing the ceremony--a very empty one--of introducing the aristocratic citizens of the republic to the President of the United States.
Douglass sarcastically describes the exaggerated fears of those who opposed his appointment, particularly the prospect of a Black man in a position of social prominence.
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More from Frederick Douglass
But we are not here to applaud manly courage, save as it has been displayed in a noble cause.
Our very lack of preparation for the conflict disposed us to look for some other than the way of blood out of the difficulty.
For the moment the northern lamb was transformed into a lion, and his roar was terrible.