Reformation of Black Identity in Young, Walker and Douglass

In the nineteenth century, many people believed that African Americans were not only inferior to whites but, furthermore, of a different species altogether. As Sterling Stuckey notes in his essay, “David Walker: African Rights and Liberty”, racist beliefs continued to pervade both Northern and Southern states during the first half of the century in which Young, Walker and Douglass write their texts. Even though many Northern states had granted varying degrees of freedom to people of African descent, “there, too, blacks were considered a breed apart, inferior” (118). Throughout America, thinking of African Americans as inferior to whites perhaps justified their oppression. Regardless of such possible explanations, the identity of blacks as perceived by their oppressors undoubtedly had many effects on antebellum America: “In striving to counter racist charges of inferiority, early Afro-American authors understandably sought to shape their portrayal of black male heroes in accord with middle-class definitions of masculinity” (Yarborough, 168). Consequently, the reformation of whites’ opinions of blacks works as a motivating narrative device in Young, Walker and Douglass’ texts.

The “Ethiopian Manifesto” addresses those people who oppress others in order to discuss the importance of their self-reformation. After summoning “the attention towards us of every native, or those proceeding in descent from the Ethiopian or African people” (60-61), Young redirects his address away from the oppressed in favor of capturing the attention of their oppressor: “Man—white man—black man—or, more properly, ye monsters incarnate, in human shape, who claim the horrid right to hold nature’s untutored son, the Ethiopian, in bondage, to you I do herefrom [sic] speak” (63). Curiously, in the midst of a sermon that beseeches the attention of the oppressed people of Africa, Young shifts the focus of the text in order to directly address their oppressor. While it remains problematic to infer an actual audience outside of the text who might read such an address, the narrative must speak to someone within the context of the “Manifesto” in order for it to remain cohesive. Thus, by implying an oppressive recipient of the following message, Young introduces a character, if you will, in an abstract sense. Young’s text deliberately addresses this character for the sake of considering the consequences of their potential self-reformation.

The “Manifesto” warns of the wrath God will bestow upon those who fail to consider African Americans men. After clearly specifying to whom he directs the text’s attention, Young asks:

Your God, the great and mighty God, hath seen your degradation of your fellow brother, and mortal man; he hath long looked down with mercy on your suffering slave; his cries have called for a vindication of his rights, and know ye they have been heard of the Majesty of Heaven, whose dignity have you not offended by deeming a mortal man, in your own likeness, as but worthy of being your slave, degraded to your brute? (63-64).

Young warns of the sin involved in considering blacks less than human. By oppressing people of African descent and, thus, reducing them to the likes of mere brutes, the oppressors have sinned against God. Young reminds his character that “the voice of intuitive justice speaks aloud to you, and bids you to release your slave; otherwise stings, eternal stings, of an outraged and goading conscience will, ere long, hold all them in subjection who pay not due attention to this, its admonition” (64). Young directly opposes the notion that African Americans are nothing more than brutes, and he advises these “monsters incarnate” to reform their perception of black identity in order to escape the Deity’s doom. By understanding that people of African descent are human beings and accordingly children of God, these “monsters” must emancipate the oppressed in order to attain personal salvation; otherwise, “poverty shall appear to thee a blessing, if it but restore to thy fellow-man his rights” (64). The rethinking of black identity by their oppressor stimulates the emancipation of the oppressed and saves the repentant sinner from the wrath of a just God. The author may have committed only a portion of one paragraph to the perception of black identity by the oppressive “monster”; nevertheless, in 1929, with the publication of the “Ethiopian Manifesto”, Young has utilized self-reformation within the context of his protest pamphlet to serve as a catalyst for the personal salvation of those who oppress their fellow man.

Arguments defending the humanity of African Americans continue to surface in much of the literature written after Young’s “Manifesto”, particularly in the third and final edition of Walker’s Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World. In this protest pamphlet, Walker similarly investigates the issue of black identity in America, only to pursue it much more thoroughly than Young. White people’s association of African Americans with brutishness cuts to the core of race relations in antebellum America: “Of all the assaults on his people, the one that seems to have disturbed Walker most was the charge that they were inferior to whites—were not even members of the human race” (Stuckey, 123). While he offers a myriad of potential solutions to the oppression of his people, Walker continually focuses upon the reformation of white people’s understanding of black identity in order to heal the wounds already inflicted upon America. By examining the issue of black identity in broader breadth than Young, Walker is able to incorporate self-reformation into the character of the oppressor not only as a means towards personal salvation but also as a tonic to amend race relations in antebellum America.

In attempting to combat the atrocious misunderstanding of black identity in America, Walker interrogates one of this country’s most influential Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, and the detrimental effect that his writings have had on people’s opinion of African Americans. Throughout the pamphlet, Walker refutes Jefferson’s consideration of African Americans as less-than-human: “Has Mr. Jefferson declared to the world, that we are inferior to the whites, both in the endowments of our bodies and our minds?” (12). Walker’s inquiry refers to Jefferson’s Notes on Virginia, in which the author of The Declaration of Independence hypocritically suggests that all men are not created equal. Walker realizes the detrimental effect that Jefferson’s sentiments have had on his country. While he emphatically opposes the opinion that blacks are inferior to whites or no closer to humans than brutes, Walker understands the minority into which such an opinion places him:

Do you know that Mr. Jefferson was one of as great characters as ever lived among the whites? See his writings for the world, and public labours for the United States of America. Do you believe that the assertions of such a man, [sic] will pass away into oblivion unobserved by this people and the world? If you do you are much mistaken—See how the American people treat us—have we souls in our bodies? (17-18)

Walker understands the deep-seeded belief expressed by Jefferson and adamantly endorsed by others in this country; however, the author will not allow such seemingly daunting opposition to deter him from pursuing the potential good that resides in the reformation of such beliefs. Walker acknowledges the struggle of such an endeavor in order to justify his call for attention to the issue: “By the late 1820’s, antiblack ideology was becoming more aggressive and gaining greater favor among whites, and these key writings of Jefferson only sanctioned this mounting racial antipathy” (Stuckey, xxvii). If America were to make any progress towards ending oppression, it would have to begin with the reformation of how whites view people of African descent: “There should be no effective defense of the country until the country is willing to recognize the manhood of blacks: no real love of country until respect is extended to those who suffer at the hands of white Americans” (Stuckey, 130-131). In a display of intellectual scrutiny characteristic of his entire pamphlet, Walker will systematically show the importance of black identity in its relation not only to the personal salvation of those who oppress others, as we have examined above in Young’s text, but also to the amelioration of race relations in the United States.

Like Young, Walker indirectly creates a character through the narrative device of direct address. Again, such an address does not provide the reader with any conclusive evidence of an actual audience, but it must be recognized within the text for its ability to create an implied character to which the narrative may speak. In the preamble to his Appeal, Walker defines such a character as any man, regardless of race, with the potential to recognize the erroneous ways of slavery: “These positions I shall endeavor, by the help of the Lord, to demonstrate in the course of this Appeal, to the satisfaction of the most incredulous mind—and may God Almighty, who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, open your hearts to understand and believe the truth” (3-4). As early as the second paragraph of the preamble, Walker begins to describe this character as skeptical and in opposition to Walker’s opinion. In 1830, the most incredulous mind believed to oppose a protest pamphlet written by an African American would most likely have been an advocate of oppression, much like the character addressed by Young in his “Manifesto”. Walker, however, will describe this character in further detail. Planning to pursue the issue of race identity in deeper depth than Young, Walker insists on further specifying the implied recipient of his argument in order to more directly define the type of character in who resides the potential for self-reformation.

Walker clarifies to whom the narrative aims its attention at this point in the pamphlet by distinguishing between an oppressor with the potential for reformation and one for whom it is too late. Within a paramount passage regarding the abhorrent consequences of oppression, the author lays out six characteristics by which to further consider the intended recipient of his message:

All persons who are [one] acquainted with history, and particularly the Bible, who are [two] not blinded by the God of this world, and are [three] not actuated solely by avarice—who are [four] able to lay aside prejudice long enough to view candidly and impartially, things as they were, are and probably will be—who are [five] willing to admit that God made man to serve Him alone, and that man should have no other Lord or Lords but Himself—that God Almighty is the sole proprietor or master of the WHOLE human family, and will not on any consideration admit of a colleague, being unwilling to divide his glory with another—and who can [six] dispense with prejudice long enough to admit that we are men…I say, all who are permitted to see and believe these things, can easily recognize the judgments of God among the Spaniards. (7)

Walker’s text addresses any character that believes in God and can consider the oppressed as men instead of brutes. By appealing to a category of man such as the one outlined above—a group of individuals who can recognize the erroneous ways of oppression in foreign lands—Walker describes a character with the potential for self-reformation. Walker understands that inevitably some people will be deaf to his plea and, therefore, refines his depiction of the type of character to whom the narrative speaks by including the principles of morality and ability to reform one’s opinion of black identity. By the close of his preamble, Walker declares that any character possessing such traits “can easily recognize the judgments of God among the Spaniards. Though others may lay the cause of the fierceness with which they cut each other’s throats, to some other circumstance, yet they who believe that God is a God of justice, will believe that SLAVERY is the principal cause” (7). Walker does not concern his text with every individual who contributes to the oppression of others because he believes that some of them lack the potential to reform their opinions of African Americans. Instead, Walker creates a specific character, quite well developed in relation to Young’s subject, in order to allow for a more complex and yet even more plausible consideration of self-reformation and its subsequent consequences. By setting aside prejudice long enough to reconsider black identity, the recipient of Walker’s message must realize the injustice of oppression.

Walker’s text continues to appeal to a sense of morality that is dependant upon the recognition of African Americans as men. If God is a God of justice to all his creatures, Walker asks, could such a deity allow tyrants to live in peace while others remain subjected to the horrors of oppression. Walker argues that such a God would not be just in the eyes of the oppressed: “I ask every man who has a heart, and is blessed with the privilege of believing—Is not God a God of justice to all his creatures?” (7). Again, Walker realizes that such a message will not produce the desired effect in every white person, since some of their cups are too full, as he often phrases it. Some people are beyond reform, but we must remember the passage quoted above in which Walker describes the character to which he aims his plea for self-repentance. Towards the end of the preamble, the text disregards any person incapable of considering African Americans as men and concentrates, instead, on appealing to those who, though they may not presently, nevertheless, may potentially recognize the oppressed as nothing other than their fellow brethren. By reminding his intended recipient of God’s justice, Walker has begun his argument regarding the moral implications surrounding the reformation of white people’s understanding of black identity: “If you will allow that we are MEN, who feel for each other, does not the blood of our fathers and of us their children, cry aloud to the Lord of Sabaoth against you, for the cruelties and murders with which you have, and do continue to afflict us” (8).” Walker creates an addressed character in whom to establish a fear of God’s wrath. Since God must strike upon the oppression of one of “his creatures”, such a fear is logically predicated upon the understanding that African Americans are men.

In the Appeal, Walker allows for the salvation of the oppressors through the reformation of their understanding of African American identity. While ignorant in regards to the true identity of black people, white people remain doomed to the wrath of Walker’s angry God. For such a group of oppressors, reformation serves as the catalyst towards metaphysical salvation. A people, guilty of sinfully oppressing God’s creatures, may escape damnation only by reconsidering their opinion of African Americans. Throughout the pamphlet, Walker attempts to save as many individuals as possible, which includes both the oppressed and, quite remarkably, their oppressor. At the end of the Appeal, he reminds the oppressor of the only means to such salvation: “As unexpected, strange, and wild as these propositions may to some appear, it is no less a fact, that unless they are complied with, the Americans of the United States, though they may for a little while escape, God will yet weigh them in a balance, and if they are not superior to other men, as they have represented themselves to be, he will give them wretchedness to their very heart’s content” (73). The oppressor must reform his opinion of the oppressed and consider them as men, lest such a sinner fall victim to the wrath of an angry god. The narrative device of self-reformation, enacted upon a character that previously considered African Americans as brutes instead of men, thus, provides a means by which to attain personal salvation.

In article IV of the Appeal, Walker proceeds to elucidate upon the good that may result from the fair and equal treatment of all men. Again addressing a people who oppress others, Walker speculates upon the consequences of their reformation, declaring that such a change of mind will lead to the appeasement of race relations in America. While concluding his argument against the Colonization plan, which even many prominent abolitionists of his time heavily supported, Walker expounds upon the social significance of considering him, and all those who remain oppressed, as men:

Americans! Notwithstanding you have and do continue to treat us more cruel [sic] than any heathen nation ever did a people it had subjected to the same condition that you have us. Now let us reason—I mean you of the United States, whom I believe God designs to save from destruction, if you will hear. For I declare to you, whether you believe it or not, that there are some on the continent of America, who will never be able to repent. God will surely destroy them, to show you his disapprobation of the murders they and you have inflicted upon us […] Throw away your fears and prejudices then, and enlighten us and treat us like men, and we will like you more than we do now hate you, and tell us no more about colonization, for America is as much our country, as it is yours.—Treat us like men, and there is no danger but we will all live in peace and happiness together. (72-73)

Once again, Walker concedes that some people will be unable to reform their opinion of black people and finds it futile to persuade them to do so. Instead, he continues to concentrate on the oppressor who has in him the ability to reconsider African American identity. For self-reformation now serves as a necessary catalyst for actions that ultimately result in not only personal salvation but also social harmony. As Stuckey has pointed out, for Walker the relationship between people of color and their oppressor will begin to heal only with the sincere reformation of the latter’s opinion of the former (130-131). Despite the repeated indications of a doomed fate for many white Americans, Walker’s Appeal still retains hope for the reconciliation of race relations in the United States but only through the reformation of white America’s understanding of black identity.

Realizing that many white people may be skeptical of Walker’s sincerity regarding the appeasement of race relations in America, he points to the benevolent consequences resulting from the reformation of the British. Once a prominent member of the Atlantic Slave trade, Britain, excluding their colonies in the West Indies, had ceased to participate in the buying and selling of Africans by the time Walker writes his Appeal. The reformation in regards to England’s consideration of black people results in the type of race relations that Walker hopes to see realized in America:

The English are the best friends the coloured people have upon earth. Though they have oppressed us a little and have colonies now in the West Indies, which oppress us sorely,—Yet notwithstanding they (the English) have done one hundred times more for the melioration of our condition, than all the other nations of the earth put together. The blacks cannot but respect the English as a nation, notwithstanding they have treated us a little cruel. (43)

Walker’s sentiment towards the British indicates the benevolent consequences of their reformed consideration of blacks. While he will not forget the wrongs which the British have done, the author sincerely embraces their reformation and as a result considers them a true friend: “Walker admitted that the English were unjust to his people, possessing colonies in the Caribbean ‘which oppress us sorely,’ but he thought they had done more to mitigate the plight of blacks ‘than all the other nations of the earth put together” (Stuckey, 127-128). The improved relationship between blacks and the British, as according to Walker, legitimizes his proposition to reconcile race relations in America. Despite the vehemence within the text exhibited towards whites who will not reform their notion of black identity, Walker sincerely wants to help as many men as possible regardless of race: “The burden of the Appeal is essentially one of doom for whites. Yet the fact that Walker gave attention to the possibility of harmonious relations between whites and blacks must be taken seriously because the search for freedom and the readiness to consider changing realities in the interest of that search were both important to him” (Stuckey, 131). Furthermore, as Peter P. Hinks points out in his introduction to the Appeal, Walker ceaselessly worked toward the melioration of race relations in the United States: “Despite America’s horrible sins, Walker proclaimed, the nation was fully redeemable, and he refused to abandon it” (xxxi). Amidst the recognition that some whites are beyond repentance, which explains the vehement tone regarding them throughout much of his Appeal, Walker refuses to abandon his belief in social harmony and understands the reformation of black identity to be the means towards such ends.

Walker’s push for the constructive rebuilding of relationships between the races creates a common theme linking his Appeal to Douglass’ “The Heroic Slave”. Douglass certainly knew of Walker’s text, which quite possibly influenced his writing: “Douglass readily recalled as late as 1883 that the Appeal ‘startled the land like a trump of coming judgment’ and that David Walker ‘was before either Mr. [William Lloyd] Garrison or Mr. [Benjamin] Lundy’—two of the most eminent white abolitionists, both held dear by Douglass—in inspiring the abolitionist movement and the defense of black freedom and rights” (Hinks, xlii). Like Walker, Douglass utilizes self-reformation as a catalyst for the amelioration of race relations in his text. However, unlike Young and Walker, who each write in the form of a protest pamphlet, Douglass chose a different narrative format by which to address the issue of black identity as perceived by whites in antebellum America. The short-story format of “The Heroic Slave” enables the author to create a more concrete character in whom to enact the narrative device of self-reformation. Whereas Young and Walker’s texts indirectly imply the existence of a character that will receive their respective messages, Douglass creates the character of Mr. Listwell, a free white man from Ohio, to actually embody the self-reformation upon which Young and Walker speculate.

Upon overhearing a slave’s soliloquy in the woods while traveling through Virginia, Mr. Listwell experiences the type of change in character that Young and Walker recommend in their pamphlets. The slave, while comparing his situation with the lot of other animals in the world, argues on behalf of his own humanity:

That accursed and crawling snake, that miserable reptile, that has just glided into its slimy home, is freer and better off than I. He escaped my blow, and is safe. But here am I, a man,—yes, a man!—with thoughts and wishes, with powers and faculties as far as angel’s flight above that hated reptile—yet he is my superior, and scorns to own me as his master, or to stop to take my blows. (27)

For Madison Washington, black identity in the eyes of whites during antebellum America is inferior even to that of an animal. The repetition of and italic emphasis placed upon the notion that Madison is in fact a man indicates the importance of such a fact. Madison declares to cease living “under the constant dread and apprehension of being sold and transferred, like a mere brute” (27). Just as with Walker, the enslavement of an individual denies humanity in Douglass’ text. Emancipation remains wed with identity, and Mr. Listwell must recognize this relationship in order to help the slave. Madison’s declaration that he is in fact a man and not a brute will cause Mr. Listwell ultimately to change his view of an oppressed people.

Eavesdropping upon Madison’s speech in the woods provides a providential moment for Mr. Listwell that will change his character. As chapter one closes, the free white man contemplates the revelation he has just overheard: “The speech of Madison rung through the chambers of [Mr. Listwell’s] soul, and vibrated through his entire frame. ‘Here is indeed a man,’ thought he, ‘of rare endowments,—a child of God,—guilty of no crime but the color of his skin,—hiding away from the face of humanity, and pouring out his thoughts and feelings, his hopes and resolutions to the lonely woods” (30). Considering the poetic care with which Douglass crafts his text, and, more importantly, the significance which Young and Walker place on the recognition of man’s identity, the break in Mr. Listwell’s speech isolating the phrase “Here is indeed a man” serves to emphasize the importance of such a revelation. As if in response to Young and Walker’s plea, Mr. Listwell, as a result of this chance occasion, suddenly recognizes Madison as a child of God and, thus, reforms his consideration of black identity.

The reformation of Mr. Listwell’s concept of black identity serves as a catalyst within the plot of Douglass’ narrative. The slave’s speech changes the way Mr. Listwell thinks of Madison, and such reformation ultimately leads to action: “From this hour I am an abolitionist. I have seen enough and heard enough, and I shall go to my home in Ohio resolved to atone for my past indifference to this ill-starred race, by making such exertions as I shall be able to do, for the speedy emancipation of every slave in the land” (30). Indifference perpetuates oppression, and Mr. Listwell, while not part of the solution, would have continued to be a part of the problem if not for the reformation of his attitude towards the oppressed. Mr. Listwell’s newfound understanding of black identity causes him to aid in the eventual emancipation of his fellow man, Madison Washington. Consequently, self-reformation serves to stimulate action within the narrative and causes Mr. Listwell to abandon his prior stance of indifference towards the oppression of African Americans.

As with Walker’s Appeal, the action that spawns from self-reformation in “The Heroic Slave” ultimately leads to benevolent race relations. After successfully escaping to Canada, Madison writes a letter to Mr. Listwell in which he addresses the reformed character as “My dear Friend,—for such you truly are” (46). Madison writes the letter in order to thank Mr. Listwell for his assistance in the slave’s flight to freedom. It expresses Madison’s sincere gratitude towards Mr. Listwell for his actions and depicts the compassionate relationships between whites and blacks resulting from a white man’s reformation of the way he views black identity: “As many thanks to you, sir, and to your kind lady, as there are pebbles on the shores of Lake Erie; and may the blessing of God rest upon you both. You will never be forgotten by your profoundly grateful friend” (46). Mr.Listwell’s assistance in the fugitive’s flight for freedom leads Madison to regard the white man with such kind affection. The desire to aid the runaway slave first spawns from Mr. Listwell’s re-thinking of black identity. In some aspects, the ways in which Douglass creates Madison in order to appeal to a white man may be problematic; nevertheless, “his failures do not qualify the boldness of his attempt, and one can argue that the short-term benefits of his approach must be taken into account in assessing the overall success of his enterprise” (Yarborough, 182-183).

While it is unclear whether or not Mr. Listwell’s reformation leads to his own salvation from any type of dooms-day judgment by God like the sort suggested in Young and Walker’s respective texts, his reconsideration of black identity does lead to greater social harmony between the races. In all three texts, white people’s reformation of the ways in which they understand black identity drives the narrative in some fashion. In Young’s “Manifesto”, it acts as a catalyst towards personal salvation; in Walker’s Appeal, it leads not only to the redemption of God’s grace, but also to benevolent race relations; and in Douglass’ “The Heroic Slave”, it similarly spawns improved race relations. During a time leading up to America’s Civil War, Young, Walker and Douglass desperately attempt to speculate upon the ways in which their country may avoid such a cataclysmic fate. Within their respective texts, the ability to reconsider the identity of African Americans as men instead of brutes provides a beacon of hope for a group of individuals who have unjustly oppressed a people for hundreds of years. For self-reformation, in the sense that these three authors incorporate it as a narrative device, ultimately serves as a possible means towards saving and uniting as many people within antebellum America as possible.

Bibliography

Douglass, Frederick. “The Heroic Slave". Three Classic African American Novels. ed. Williams L. Andrews. New York: Mentor. 1990.

Hinks, Peter P. “Introduction.” Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World. ed. Peter P. Hinks. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State UP. 2000.

Stuckey, Sterling. “David Walker: African Rights and Liberty.” Slave Culture: Nationalist Theory and the Foundations of Black America. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 1987.

Walker, David. Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World. ed. Peter P. Hinks. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State UP. 2000.

Yarborough, Richard. “Race, Violence, and Manhood: The Masculine Ideal in Frederick Douglass’s ‘The Heroic Slave’.” Frederick Douglass: New Literary and Historical Essays. Ed. Eric J. Sundquist. Cambridge: UP. 1990.

Young, Robert Alexander. “Ethiopian Manifesto". Classical Black Nationalism: From the American Revolution to Marcus Garvey. ed. Wilson Jeremiah Moses. New York: New York UP. 1996.

 

 

 

 

 

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