Similarities Between Frederick Douglass And King

Race relations, especially between blacks and whites, have always been a

problematic and fiery issue throughout United States' history. Frederick Douglass was a

self-taught black man who wrote about his experiences as a slave. In his book, "From

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave", he makes many brilliant

depictions and insights into the injustices and cruelty of slavery. In 1863, Lincoln

announced the Emancipation Proclamation and blacks were forever freed from slavery.

However, this did not put an end to racial tension or to the black man's hope for racial

equality. One hundred years later, segregation was the prevailing system, a system not

nearly as cruel as slavery, but still it was evil and of great
King's rhetoric and system of analysis are a helpful lens1 through which to

scrutinize and extract the important realizations dwelling in Douglass's story.

Both King and Douglass describe a predicament in which they face a clash

between white man's law and moral law. Douglass tells a story of his personal experience,

whereas King is more concerned with making his points and backing them up with his

concrete examples.

King is more descriptive, more scholarly in his writing considering he was formally

educated and more exposed than Douglass who was born a slave. King thought laws

prohibiting a black man from sitting in the white section of the bus or eating at a white

luncheon counter or having a civil rights march were unfair and degrading. King wanted to

end segregation by causing a commotion; he wanted to act as a "gadfly," a commotion, so

that people were forced to deal with the segregation issue because negotiation did not

work. King felt direct-action was necessary to making any progress, so having illegal

parades to protest segregation was essential. In fact, King admired the idea of
The only difference is that King defines his idea on the

surface, whereas in Douglass, the idea is lurking.

Douglass is a young, naive slave who was blessed to have a master, Mrs. Auld,

who was nice and taught him some lessons in reading. This harmless event turns into a

debacle when Mr. Auld finds out about his wife giving their slave an education. Mr. Auld

told his wife in front of young Douglass how "unlawful" and "unsafe" it is to educate a

slave and "if you teach that nigger how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would

forever unfit him to be a slave."(Douglass 78) This seemingly unfortunate event was

actually the "gadfly" which sparked a whole new train of thought in Douglass's mind. He

may have lost the privilege of reading lessons and the friendship of Mrs. Auld, but he

gained important insight into the world, "a special revelation."(Douglass 78) He explains,

"I was gladdened by the invaluable instruction which, by the merest accident, I had gained

from my master."(Douglass 78) Douglass does not care that pursuing his education is

illegal. Like King, Douglass is able to see the difference between "unjust laws" and "just

laws" and similar to the police in Birmingham, Mr. Auld is enforcing a law to maintain