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Justice and Society Lehman College Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass is one of the most important figures in American history and political theory. He was a freed slave and dedicated the rest of his life to supporting abolitionism alongside other African American and white figures. In addition to his direct political work, he also wrote for a newspaper that was primarily for black readership. He was able to do this after learning to read and write when he was a slave (a rare feat). He went on to also write three autobiographies, all presenting his life and experiences differently. The one most considered in philosophy/critical race theory, usually, is My Bondage and My Freedom. One anecdote that he presents in the work is about a fight that he has with “the slave breaker”, a man named Covey. This event was transformative for Douglass and Covey and was able to motivate Douglass to continue his pursuit of freedom and work to spread this goal for all. This fight can also be analyzed to understand an important concept in social philosophy: the separation of the biological from the social. Douglass was with Covey because he was considered disobedient, and Covey was so tough that he would be able to work with “difficult” leaves in order to make/keep then subordinate to their masters. He was expected to stay with him for a number of months and then return to his master’s house. One day, Covey began to attack Douglass. Rather than taking a beating, as it was assumed he would do, he fought back. Douglass claims that the fight was hours long and that he only every responded defensively. In the middle of the fight, Covey demanded that another slave joins him to try to defeat Douglass, but the other slave refused and left the scene. After they became exhausted, Covey gave up and left Douglass alone. Typically, what would happen in this situation is the slave owner/master would continue to act harshly against the slave or even kill him. Instead, Covey never lay a finger on Douglass again and did not demand as much of him. Douglass says that in this experience and the aftermath, he realized himself as man – and it seems as if Covey did as well. My reading of this fight is that this was an opportunity for Covey to discover that at the pure brute and biological level, him and Douglass are the same – they are both men. The power dynamic between them is merely implemented by social norms. These norms, though, are not engrained objectively into people – in a way, they’re completely made up. In fighting with Douglass for so long, I believe that Covey recognized Douglass’s core human-ness and that it’s identical to his own. This idea, I believe, can be expanded to other areas where discrimination and oppression exist as well. I encourage all of you to read the passage from the text where this occurs. Douglass’s description is quite powerful.