Frederick Douglass: “There is no better material in the world for making a gentleman, than…”

On the recordJanuary 1, 1855

There is no better material in the world for making a gentleman, than is furnished in the African.

Said by

Frederick Douglass

Source

In his autobiography, Douglass asserts the inherent capacity for dignity and refinement within African people, challenging prevailing racist views.

More from Frederick Douglass

Jan 1, 1881

Father he might be, and not be husband, and could sell his own child without incurring reproach, if in its veins coursed one drop of African blood.

Jan 1, 1881

Treason had shot its poisonous roots deeper, and had spread its death-dealing branches further than any northern calculation had covered.

Jan 1, 1881

Human liberty excludes all idea of home and abroad.

Jan 1, 1881

A son of toil himself, he was linked in brotherly sympathy with the sons of toil in every loyal part of the republic.

Frederick Douglass: “There is no better material in the world for making a gentleman, than is furnished in the African.”