While reading the chapter "Going Against the Grain", there was a lot of information making it hard to single in on one thing, but one thing that stood out to me was during slavery, the white leaders and politicians such as Thomas Jefferson, John Locke, and Adam Smith who wanted equal treatment and rights that "were based on being human , rather than on being rich or poor, royal or common even inherently good or evil."(117) However they owed very large slave plantations and when they died, specifically Jefferson's death, he did not allow is slave to be free instead his family member inherited the slaves. I find it to be very hypocritical to not believe in something yet still actively participate in it. Another president who disliked slavery was John Adam. He disliked slavery but "made no attempt...to bring about any change to the system."(119). In order to abolish slavery there had to be a white leader who had an impact on other leader to gain enough support from them, to show them the harm that slavery was doing to the African American peoples. In some parts of the south, African-Americans outnumbered their white counter parts, and I do believe that if blacks rose up to the challenge of equal rights and disregarded their master’s commands and started a revolution, slavery would not have last as long as it did. But factors of oppression and the teachings of "lesser than" was put into the minds of the slaves, therefore making them actually believe that they were incapable of getting respect in the nation and achieving greatness. Also while reading this chapter I noticed that the white leaders and politicians who didn't support slavery were glorified in text books. Thinking back to grade school, only the well know leaders in the white society didn't support slavery but there were some " average joes" who were against slavery and they protected slaves from the more aggressive and abusive slave owners, but they are hardly mentioned, but it is probably because they are unknown or purposely left out of history in order o give glory to the more famous people.
-Candice Frazier