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Ignorance is darkness and Knowledge is light

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, this iconic statement by
Martin Luther King has been illustrated throughout the course of time, and remains a
relevant denunciation. One of the most prevalent injustices in our society is racism;
this topic, often taboo, has been debated for centuries. It has been written and spoken
about and acted upon and thus has shaped our world for better and for worse.
Racism is intertwined with slavery, like many life issues, it has influenced literature
greatly. With any negative movement there are those who stand in the way of its
adversity and those who promote it. The poet Walt Whitman and writer Frederick
Douglass demonstrate and debate this subject the best way they knew how, through
the art of literature and poetry.
Walt Whitmans Leaves of Grass and Frederick Douglasss Narrative of the Life of
Frederick Douglass, an American slave are two great literary examples of how the
issue of race was approached in the same era from opposite sides of the same coin.
Both were written in the mid 19th century just before the near end of slavery in 1865.
At first read some of the viewpoints appear to clash dramatically, but as you read
deeper fascinating similarities emerge. (SCHOOL BOOK)
Leaves Of Grass is an illustrious piece of mixed literature that identifies the common
man, slavery, politics and the human body in the form of transcendentalism and free
verse. It was published in 1855 and Whitmans own expense, it is considered a
language experiment and consisted of ninety-five pages and 12 individual poems.
There are an abundant amount of themes covered throughout the range of poems, but
an interesting recurring theme pops in several of the poems. The theme of racism and
slavery, which was a major issue at the time and the cause for the civil war. The
poems, the song of myself and sleepers in his book Leaves of Grass hit on this theme
openly. In his poems he expresses his viewpoints clearly, for example in The Song of
Myself he writes, The quadroon girl is sold at the auction-stand, the drunkard
Nods by the bar-room stove this illustrates the realities after the civil war and
prostitution of multi-racial prostitutes. It shows that even though they were free, they
were still a slave to themselves and the world that they now live in. Whitman in his
poetry calls African Americans by many different names that we would consider racist
today. The leaves of grass paints many pictures of Whitmans stance and ideals on
slavery and the racism associated with it.
I am the poet of the body
And I am the poet of the soul
And I am
I go with the slaves of the earth equally with he masters
And I will stand between the masters and the slaves,
Entering into both so that both will understand me alike (quoted in Whitman,
Holloway 69).
The above segment from Whitmans first attempts at leaves of grass, shows that
Whitman himself was a contradiction on the topic, he seemed to stand in-between and

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on both sides of the issue. He initially was not for the oblation of slavery as he
thought that it would initially do more harm than any good. In his later writings he
completely opposed slavery, but even he could not live up to these ideals as he
struggled with the widespread idea that even free African-Americans should not be
able to vote. So even though his writings and viewpoints were quite radical for the
time, there were limits to his morality. In his writings he still considers himself
different from African Americans, even superior but ironically a huge advocator for
their freedom (Kummings, 53).
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave is an
autobiography by Frederic Douglass an African American born slave around 1817.
The biography is the story of his life as a slave and his escape and struggle to become
a free man. This narrative revolves around the topic of slavery and the racism that is
connected with it. Douglass treats the theme with a candid and sometimes horrifying
honesty, he uses his amazing literary skills to put you into his shoes at that point in
time so you can live the horrors that he faced. He does this so that the reader can
relate to his experiences and hopefully will cause them at the time to question slavery
and whether or not it is justified.
His writing targets the more educated northern audience in an aid to help further the
abolitionist movement by gaining the support of the educated and powerful. In his
narrative he involves the reader in certain horrors of being a slave. The nights of him
waking up to the sound of his aunt getting whipped, growing up with no mother or
father, he himself getting beaten with no way to defend himself are all mind altering
images, that even reading today in the 21st century are still shocking. The tragedy and
nobility of the publication of these images in this time were ground breaking and
unheard of. These images brought to light the deep dark and taboo topics of slavery
that people either did not know about or chose ignore. Douglass also pushes the point
of The white man's happiness cannot be purchased by the black man's misery. In
which he means that the white man by enslaving the black man does not make them
happy, as it corrupts all. This is shown heavily in the character of Mrs. Auld and how
she starts of as a nice woman, but once owning a slave and experiencing power she
changes and her integrity and purity is corrupted.
It is clear that Douglass has a bias toward slavery and that is more than
understandable, what is truly amazing is that he does not have a bias towards white
people and that is the mark of a truly amazing man, especially after everything he has
gone through. The narrative is full of quotes that strike the reader with awe, such as
"You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a
man (107)."
In London in Leicester Square there is a statue put up during Imperialist expansion,
which says simply ignorance is darkness illustrating in three simple words that the
British Imperialists colonizing and enslaving would lead to a more civilized future.
By using the word darkness the phrase drives home the nails of racism at the same
time as it purports to set man free. In the same way, Whitmans poem has an ironic
undertone (the desire to set black people free, but still have restrictions such as
voting).

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The forms of writing stand in stark contrast to each other in the way they value
peoples of a different race. Douglasss poem illustrates the inferiority and frustration
felt by the black races towards their white masters, but says this inferiority can change
with education and getting people to realize. Whitman on the other hand writes from
the standpoint of a white man, with degrees of idealism that his race is still superior,
but should not treat others as slaves.
Leaves of Grass and the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American
slave both illuminate injustice from opposite sides: Whitman uses the racism imposed
upon the black slave to illustrate the injustice caused by the colour of ones skin,
whereas Douglass suggests that we are all subject to injustice, all captives, both slave
and master and that justice is an reachable ideal through knowledge and learning.
Whitman starts from the stance that the white man is still superior because of his
ability to rule and manage and that the black man should not be able to vote, yet his
views and poetry advocate highly for the black American and his freedom.
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave differs
completely from Whitmans poems in Leaves of Grass. Whitman uses constant
metaphors and imagery to make his stance and show his point of view, whereas
Douglass uses facts and real life experiences to shock and emotionally engage the
reader. Whitman poems show the evolution from transcendentalism to realism,
whereas Douglasss narrative is realism.
The poems and the narrative contradict in many ways, but they also do compare in
ideals and some imagery. They both discuss racism and slavery of the time and they
both advocate highly for the abolishment of slavery. Both writers paint the picture of
the time with there words and give a perspective that only they can have. It is
expected for Douglass to have his point of view of slavery, whereas it was not
expected of Whitman, a White man, to have his views at the time. Both writers were
very much on the same track that leads to the freedom of slaves, but they were on
very different trains.
Martin Luther Kings famous quote arose out of the twentieth centurys fight against
racism, Whitmans poems and Douglasss writings are precursors in this same
everlasting fight. The words of the poet and writer from both a white and black
perspective helped awaken discussion and create debate. The desire to bring to light
the injustices caused by racism and slavery did bring about the Abolition of Slavery in
1865 and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s but the message in these poems
and narrative still holds relevance today and that should give us cause to question the
forward progress of our own civilization.

Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave.

Frederick Douglass
Slaves are generally expected to sing as well as to work.
Frederick Douglass
References
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,.
Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 1960. Ebook.
Whitman, Walt. Leaves of grass, published 1891, 69. Ebook .
Kummings, Donald D. A Companion to Walt Whitman. Chichester etc.: WileyBlackwell, 2009. 51-54. Ebook.
Whitman, Walt, and Emory Holloway. The Uncollected Poetry and Prose of Walt
Whitman: Much of Which Has Been but Recently Discovered. Garden City, NY:
Doubleday, Page &, 1921. 69. Ebook
Luther king, Martin Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, at
BrainyQuote." Famous Quotes at BrainyQuote. Web. 23 Nov. 2012.