Our Wretchedness In Sequence Of Ignorance Essay

In this essay, I evaluate the validity of David Walker’s central argument introduced in Article II of his controversial pamphlet, Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World. This argument, in which Walker contends that African Americans are complicit in their own domination, is clearly suggested in the rhetoric of the chapter title, Our Wretchedness in Consequence of Ignorance. Though he explicitly states that black American’s ignorance is the cause for their perilous subordination, Walker’s description of ignorance is not simply the nature of bewilderment that the white Americans adopt and enforce throughout the illogical system of slavery. Rather, Walker is referring to African Americans’ ignorance of their God-ordained nature that craves freedom. Walker expands on this notion through the way he frames freedom. According to Walker, freedom is not self-executing but relies on performativity; freedom requires action and resistance. Reflective of all African Americans, Walker depicts black people’s detrimental ignorance in his analysis of the the treacherous slave woman and
In both events, Walker denounces their ignorance, which he views is the principle cause of their oppression. Referred to as “ignorant and deceitful,” Walker employs especially harsh language when reflecting upon the actions of the slave woman. In this, about sixty newly purchased negroes traveling with two white men “had succeeded in separating the iron which bound their hands.” “Found perfectly at liberty,” a gang of slaves revolted, killing one of the men and escaped with about $2400. Gordon, the driver of the wagon that was also injured, was able to escape “by the assistance of one of the women,” ultimately resulting in the “capture of the whole gang and the recovery of the greatest part of the