Racism has had a huge impact on America for many years, and still continues to impact people. In “Learning to Read and Write”, Douglass shows how knowledge affects our place in society. He also shows race plays a role in class structure and education. This is because the class structure is slavery, which is based on race, and slaves are forbidden education.
In the text, there are many different ways that race and class interact. Generally, the blacks were the poor slaves. They had no freedom and could not advance economically due to the lack of education. The fact that they were forbidden education kept them superior to whites. The whites were much better off economically than whites. They had more money and more power over blacks. The education they were provided allowed them to advance in society. The society in the text believes that blacks do not deserve the same opportunities as whites. Education has an important role in society and can affect who you become. The different treatment received by blacks and whites lead to this gap in society. Despite this gap in society due to education, race and class structure interacted in many ways.
The interaction of Frederick Douglass, the slave, and the poor white boy is just one way they interacted. Unlike most whites, this young boy had very little money and was unable to feed himself. Frederick Douglass had a better like than most slaves, and even some white people, but he wanted to gain knowledge to further advance in society. Even though this poor white boy had no money or food, he still had the opportunity to get an education and eventually advance in society. Even blacks that had more money than most whites could not get an education. Frederick Douglass would give food to the poor white boy in exchange for knowledge that he could not get anywhere else. The poor white boy would tell him words that Frederick Douglass could not otherwise read. This shows how a poor white was still seen higher in society than a black male that had money and was well fed.
There was also interaction between the slave and the master. The master was white and naturally had supreme power over the slave. The slave was black who was destined for a life of serving whites. The whites did not allow the advancement of blacks in society. They wanted to keep the blacks inferior. This shows how race affects your place in society, and despite that, blacks and whites manage to interact in society.
The differences between blacks and whites lead to they different places in class structure. The lack of education that blacks were given kept them at the bottom of the class structure. Whites were given education, and therefore were higher in the class structure. Even though blacks and whites held different places in class structure due to slavery, they still managed to interact in society.
