Frederick Douglass: “It was a common saying, even among little white boys, that it was…”

On the recordJanuary 1, 1845

It was a common saying, even among little white boys, that it was worth a half-cent to kill a “nigger,” and a half-cent to bury one.

Said by

Frederick Douglass

Source

From his autobiography, Douglass recounts a common saying among white children that illustrated the utter disregard for the lives of enslaved people.

More from Frederick Douglass

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

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

Jan 1, 1881

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

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.

Frederick Douglass: “It was a common saying, even among little white boys, that it was worth a half-cent to kill a “nigger,” and a half-cent…”