Frederick Douglass: “Now, if the foregoing be an indication of kindness, what is cruelty?”

On the recordJanuary 1, 1855

Now, if the foregoing be an indication of kindness, what is cruelty?

Said by

Frederick Douglass

Source

From his autobiography, Douglass uses a rhetorical question to challenge the notion of kindness within the slave system.

More from Frederick Douglass

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Another ground of hope for our race is in the progress of education.

Jan 1, 1881

None now denies the ability of the colored race to acquire knowledge of anything which can be communicated to the human understanding by letters.

Jan 1, 1881

Everywhere in the south the colored man is learning to read.

Jan 1, 1881

To-day the negro, starting from nothing, pays taxes upon six millions in Georgia, and forty millions in Louisiana.