Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass - Essay Example

All too often a person is caught in a dilemma between following the dictates of his heart, and following the dictates of established rules, customs and practices of his environment. Because of the injustices many races have suffered over the past centuries, diversity has become a sought after ideal. As former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan once said, "We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race." Indeed, one might ask: how important is diversity in our society and can it address individual freedoms and the timeless struggle for self-definition? An experience I had had that made me realize the significance of diversity in American society was an accidental visit at a public elementary school during one of my afternoon strolls. The playground, visible through the open gates, was filled with students of different cultural backgrounds that I could not help but observe them from afar. It appeared to me that besides the kids whose descendants must have been British Pilgrims, the playground was also littered with Afro-Americans, Native Indians and Hispanics, who could probably trace their respective lineage to the days of the Atlantic Slave Trade. In addition to this assortment of races, a bird’s eye view impressed on me that some of these little boys and girls were sons and daughters of Asian immigrants presumably coming from India, China, Korea, the Philippines, and Japan. My instinct also entertained the appearance of other students, who could pass on as “white” Americans, but may actually have had Irish-Scots, French, German or Italian heritage rather than British. That was how diverse the school was and as an onlooker, I felt like I was observing the miniature representation of the United Nations and was deeply reminded of the phrase “unity in diversity.” Having witnessed the goings-on at the playground of such a culturally diverse school, I was brought to the realization that so much has changed in America over the last six centuries. It was ironic how colonials waged the American Revolution to free themselves from British rule, but denied their slaves this very same right to freedom. Slavery, as worded in Frederick Douglass’ narrative, was a living “hell” through which dark-skinned individuals must enter a “blood-stained gate” (14). Had this hellish part of American history persisted to this day, it would have been impossible to establish multi-racial schools cramped with happy children in playful harmony, such as the one I witnessed. Douglass’ personal account of slavery proves that man could rise above predefined, and oftentimes offensive, rules, customs and practices and make a different existence for himself. He was what everyone calls a “self-made” man because he had the audacity to establish a lasting reputation without relying too much on others. In his autobiography he said: “I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and incur my own abhorrence” (28). Douglass was not a man to let himself be diluted by a crowd of abusive slave-holders nor did he want to lose his identity among the throng of passive slaves. His desire to create a name for himself gained him fanfare as an abolitionist, whose ideas and impassioned orations awakened slaves to their civil liberties and fight for a true human way of life. Because in the past American society had a lack of consideration for the idea of diversity, a system of social domination prevailed over peaceful coexistence with and respect for other races. Douglass’ experience was just one of the many atrocities of this inhuman system. By far the biggest offense of slavery was creating multiple burdens for women, who already were second-rate citizens since ancient times. Harriet Jacob’s creatively masked treatise on the enslaved and already subjugated women plainly and clearly captured the essence of their overlapping burdens: “Slavery is terrible for men; but is far more terrible for women. Superadded to the burden common to all, they have wrongs, and sufferings, and mortifications peculiarly their own” (85). Notwithstanding the rigorous plantation work, and the sexual abuses of their masters, female slaves, like the rest of the female population, were also faced with the inevitability of menstruation and childbirth – somewhat painful biological dictates exclusive only to women. Poverty and the predetermined roles of childrearing and minding the household further added to the pile of burdens which female slaves must endure. By paying attention to the lives of their masters and fellow slaves, as well as the manner through which master-slave relationships were conducted, Douglass and Jacobs were able to grasp the slavery situation, overcome it through determination, courage, and creative thinking, and contribute to the beginnings of a truly diverse American society. Assuming the role of an onlooker and observing how other people’s dramas unfolded deepened these authors’ conviction on their beliefs on equality and freedom for all mankind, regardless of race, class and gender. It also challenged them to not settle for mediocrity and to instead champion the cause of the enslaved. In the same manner, my observation of the school gave me the realization that diversity is needed for human survival. After all, who knows how long the population of white Americans can reproduce and how long their culture and ideas can sustain them. Yet while the testimonies of Douglass and Jacobs alluded to the enslavement of race and gender, Herman Melville’s fictional account of “Benito Cereno” was a paradigm shift to the idea of slavery. Here, there was a role-reversal, whereby black slaves revolted to gain control of a Spanish ship and free themselves in a secluded island (35-94). As this was the likely consequence of every form of suppression, readers are faced with a highly debatable moral question: in view of how white men treated black slaves, was revolution a justifiable means of attaining freedom? Other may say “violence begets violence,” but Melville did not present any concrete answer to this. The remark he wrote in an equally enigmatic short story “Bartleby” gave us a glimpse on the difficultly of accommodating individual freedoms: “Ah, Bartleby! Ah, humanity!” (34). Such a statement hints at the complexity of human nature, of which the author himself had trouble understanding in totality. It is also no wonder why injustices of varying nature and levels thrive in this world because there is so much to understand about humans. The subjugation of race, women, and the poor among others hindered America from living up to its self-possessed claims that theirs was a “land of freedom.” Thus the experience of a multifaceted slavery in the past may have increased the necessity for a diverse American society at present. In diversity, there is social inclusiveness within a group, institution or the general society, whether in terms of culture and ethnicity, socioeconomic concerns, or gender. Diversity also allows variety of color, opinion, or style by accommodating anyone and everyone who has something to share. Had slavery persisted because not a single black abolitionist stood out in the crowd to share his or her opinion and ideas, none of us would have heard of musical genres many of us listen to these days (i.e., rap, rhythm and blues, reggae and Soul). In sum, American pop culture would not have been as varied and lively as it is today. Neither will there be multiracial schools where everyone receives the same quality of education. Just as those kids learned to share their happiness together on that little school playground, there is a better future for this world if humanity learns to share their differences, instead of allowing such differences to build walls around their identities. Diversity is therefore the key as it allows the quirks of each human being to be expressed in many different ways. Of course, diversity is a contested concept. In certain circumstances, they divide the population contrary to its noble intentions of unity. Take for instance the United States federal administrative structure. Each federal state is autonomous and can make its own laws separate from that of other states. However, state laws often contradict one another. Same-sex marriage may be legal and binding in Connecticut and Iowa, but it is not so in Arizona and Florida (McKinley and Goodstein). This often led to mass protests by activists who support gay rights. The federal system therefore shows a diversified but contradictory America. Still, it is worth reminding ourselves that “the things… we share in our world are far more valuable than those which divide us” (Williams qtd. in Diversity@work). The school was a perfect example of “unity in diversity” as girls and boys played with and enjoyed each other’s company, without care of each other’s racial orientations. This meant that a truly diverse society requires a childlike innocence, wherein social barriers on class, gender, religion, and most of all, race, are set aside or ignored. Diversity is also a choice. If one stops to observe the world as did Douglass, Jacobs and the narrators of Bartleby and Benito Cereno did, we understand people only sought after one basic goal: happiness. Though happiness is defined in many different ways (i.e., power, fame, freedom), people should look at these differences as puzzle pieces, which, if put together, will form a whole picture – the world which we all live in. Works Cited Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave: Written by Himself. Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2001. Print. Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. New York: Dover Publications, 2001. Print. McKinley, Jesse and Laurie Goodstein. “Bans in 3 States on Gay Marriage.” New York Times. New York Times, 5 Nov. 2008. Web. 4 Feb. 2010. . Melville, Herman. Bartleby and Benito Cereno. New York: Dover Publications, 1990. Print. “Quotes.” Diversity@work. Diversity@work, n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2010. . Read More