Frederick Douglass: “They dance and sing, and make all manner of joyful noises—so they do…”

On the recordJanuary 1, 1855

They dance and sing, and make all manner of joyful noises—so they do; but it is a great mistake to suppose them happy because they sing.

Said by

Frederick Douglass

Source

From his autobiography, Douglass explains the deceptive nature of slave songs and the misunderstanding of their meaning.

More from Frederick Douglass

Jan 1, 1881

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

Jan 1, 1881

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

Jan 1, 1881

Nothing but the shot-gun or the bull-dozer’s whip can keep them from voting their convictions.

Jan 1, 1881

No power beneath the sky can make an ignorant, wasteful, and idle people prosperous, or a licentious people happy.

Frederick Douglass: “They dance and sing, and make all manner of joyful noises—so they do; but it is a great mistake to suppose them happy…”