Fathered by a White Landowner: Fredrick Douglass's Journey - Essay Sample

Introduction

Rumored to being fathered by a white landowner, and orphaned at a tender age by the death of the mother, Fredrick Douglass was raised by his grandparents Betsey and Isaac Bailey. At a tender age, before the passing on of the mother, she worked miles away from him was only allowed countable visits during the dark. Moreover, when he attained the age of eight, he was sent to Baltimore to serve under the house of Hugh Auld, Captain Antony's relative. While under the roof of Auld, his master's wife Sophia found favor on him and treated him right. Eager to academically learn from Sophia, his master Hugh Auld became his first obstacle. Hugh instructed his wife to pay less attention to Douglass since teaching him how to read and right would make him not fit the brackets of slaves. In other terms, Douglas identity as a slave was the first barrier to him getting academic couching from Mrs. Sophia Auld.

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Next, since Douglas was determined to learn, he convinced the neighborhood children to assist him. Also, he used his errand connection to seek assistance from an older woman who helped him. While learning from both parties, he lacked resources to get a quality education; thus, made him scribble the works of others as a way of mastering how to write. At the same time, he lacked the funds to pay for proper education and resorted into compensating the old white woman with pieces of bread. All these were because he was an identity that reflected discrimination; for example, being black meant being subjected to slavery, which in turn meant lack of resources necessary for learning. In other terms, it was Douglass status, color, and position in the society that was his major obstacle towards learning.

Maya Angelou is well known for her civil rights contributions to the world, specifically to the U.S. when segregation was a norm in the nation. As a young lady, Maya discovered the passion of literature and poetry, but like others such as Douglas, there were challenges that Maya faced. Some of the issues Maya were considered to be more related to her dream of becoming an equal member of the society, one that did not experience any criticism or discrimination. Unfortunately, Maya, unlike others, attended a missionary school, an institution that focused less on color and ethnicity. Unfortunately, she dropped out to pursue to the career of becoming a cable car conductor, but due to criticism and discrimination, she failed to attain equal rights to men as well as whites to perform accomplish her job. Her next job entailed being a cook as well as a waitress, and later getting married to Greek sailor. In the line of her duties, Maya Angelou performed weird jobs that drove to the conclusion that civil rights were still not acceptable in the U.S., for example, by the time she married the Greek sailor interracial marriages were not agreed in America, proving to be a barrier to the union success.

Ellison R., on the other hand, did not experience the severity of discrimination the way Douglass did. During his time, segregation was the primary issue. African American students were separated from White students, as a means of providing safety to the African American child and also strengthening the efficiency of learning. Nonetheless, the educational segregation promoted the norms of superior and inferior systems, which supported white institutions will all the required resources. This was a significant obstacle to Ellison since he lacked the resources necessary to learn. Moreover, there was a lack of equal opportunities in higher education systems for the black. This was attained by increasing tuition fees that made it possible for only a handful of black students to pay for their education. Some lucky were got enrolled under scholarships. The lack of equal opportunity made Ellison work in various locations to raise college tuition fees. Due to lack of fund, he dropped out just like Maya and obtained a job as a researcher and author of the New York Federal Writers Program. In other terms, Ellison just like Maya and Douglass experienced racial discrimination due to segregated education system, social class financial inequality that led to him dropping out of school and securing a job for research and writing job.

Through his work, Alexie Sherman highlighted the difficulties the Indigenous communities went through in pursuit of better education as well as public equity. Growing up, Alexie had no issues in academic since he excelled in almost all activities both in class as well as outdoor activities, earning him scholarships to further his education. What surprises is the fact that as an indigenous, the only social problem Sherman faced was poverty, he was unable to afford transportation to school, so he walked to and from the school. Moreover, just like Maya and Ellison, Alexie too dropped out of school to pursue creative writing. While studying creative writing, he became a victim of depression and anxiety, but having Kuo to mentor him, he was well again. Majorly, Alexie was a victim of connecting to the rest of the world just like other natives; thus, steering to publish mentoring printed works to support his means of opening local equity to his community and other native tribes.

To ensure that his identity became an inspiration to the future generations, Ellison wrote the books "Invisible Man" and "Shadow and Act,' Going to the Territory's Essays." The book the "Invisible Man" channeled its attention on a Black-American civil rights employee from the south becomes alienated while moving to New York because of racism. In other terms, he wrote a classical meditation on racism and marginalization in America influencing the current and future generation interested in writing and critical thinking. Like Ellison, Douglas and Sherman too maintained their unique identity by supporting their culture as well as what they believed. For example, Douglas perceived slavery as evil, which inspired him to the book "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave." The book became the voice to all those that suffered under slavery, and a means to liberation and public equity. Also, after the Civil War, Douglass was one of the activists against slavery. His books preserve his identity and inspire the means of ethnic-decision making when the life of a fellow human being might be compromised.

On the other hand, Alexie Sherman got involved in creative writing and wrote various articles and books on the native Indian identity as a means of empowering the community. He wrote poems, novels, short stories, and memoirs, among others. To preserve his unparalleled integrity, he helped write and produced the first all-Indian movie, "Smoke Signals." Moreover, he has contributed to the inspiration of young Indian film producers to assist keep his legacy in the film sector. Lastly, Maya Angelou preserved her identity through her poems and books. In her book "I know why the caged bird sings," she narrated her story as a means of empowering women. Moreover, she inspired famous figures such as former U.S. president Barack Obama, singe Mary J. Blige and Politician Cory Booker. Through them, her legacy lives.