Underground Railroad - Criticism

Criticism

Frederick Douglass, writer, statesman, and himself an escaped slave, wrote critically of the Underground Railroad in his seminal autobiography:

"I have never approved of the very public manner in which some of our western friends have conducted what they call the underground railroad, but which I think, by their open declarations, has been made most emphatically the upperground railroad."

He went on to say that, although he honors the movement, he feels that the efforts serve more to enlighten the slave-owners than the slaves, making them more watchful and making it more difficult for future slaves to escape.

Read more about this topic:  Underground Railroad

Famous quotes containing the word criticism:

    As far as criticism is concerned, we don’t resent that unless it is absolutely biased, as it is in most cases.
    John Vorster (1915–1983)

    Of all the cants which are canted in this canting world—though the cant of hypocrites may be the worst—the cant of criticism is the most tormenting!
    Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)

    To be just, that is to say, to justify its existence, criticism should be partial, passionate and political, that is to say, written from an exclusive point of view, but a point of view that opens up the widest horizons.
    Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)