Douglass: Racism Progression Despite The Ending Of Slavery
Throughout most, if not all, of American history, African Americans have experienced struggles due to the color of their skin. From enslavement, to segregation, to persecution, America was built on the backs of black people.
Even though most would assume the conflict of racism ended with slavery, Paul Laurence Dunbar had thought otherwise. In his heartfelt poem, “Douglass”, he addresses Fredrick Douglass, one of the most famous men in the abolitionist movement who was able to share his experience as a slave and was a leading force on anti-slavery. They had forged a meaningful friendship and so after Douglass’ death, Dunbar was both emotional and earnest on the matter of racism. Through his use of imagery and symbolism, he truly conveys that despite the demise of slavery, racism still prevails at even higher stakes.
In his poem, “Douglass”, Dunbar expresses the necessity of more leaders like Fredrick Douglass to encourage African Americans in their struggles which continues to remain. Using apostrophe, Dunbar is figuratively addressing Douglass on the matters of racism in his era and states, “Ah, Douglass, we have fall'n on evil days/ Such days as thou, not even thou didst know”. Although Douglass and Dunbar had a friendship, they both periodically lived in different generations which is why these first two lines seem baffling.
Dunbar is deliberately saying that the bigotry of the late 1800s was somehow worse than that of slavery in Douglass’ era. However, he later justifies his claim with the imagery of an ocean’s, “awful tide that battled to and fro” which relates to segregation’s continuous back and forth. He is saying that at least during slavery, an African American knew his place in America while during the civil-right’s movement, freedom was always a concept dangled in African American faces but never something they could truly grasp. It was really that loss of hope that made it worse since the South made sure to immediately create laws such as the Jim Crow Laws to dismantle equality. He furthers this claim after the Volta, in which his tone changes from somber to wishful and a passionate plea. Dunbar expresses the desperate need for a leader during this time like Douglass; a representation of past leadership in the anti-slavery movement, “the black race is that maternal essence that Douglass's presence had embodied. His absence, nonetheless, speaks to the urgency of racial identity”. For this, Dunbar uses symbolization such as the, “voice high-sounding o'er the storm/ For thy strong arm to guide the shivering bark”, in which Dunbar represents slavery as a storm. The slaves are the shivering bark which is a ship that sails into the storm, but Douglass' voice leads them to safety. These symbols illustrate that even though America had gotten past its days of slavery, there were still dark days ahead, and the African American community needed a leader to guide them.
The poem, “Douglass”, is one of desperation and emotion that shows readers that racism progressed despite the ending of slavery. Dunbar recalls Douglass' strength and leadership, with the hopes that it will serve as an example and beacon of hope in a time where widespread and forceful retaliation against black people endured. This, ultimately, dimmed the African American community’s prospects for real equality and a future that was worth fighting for. He truly expresses the pain of racial injustices which gives reader’s a true insight of Dunbar’s era perceived by black people.
