Day 7 - Frederick Douglass

Today, I am grateful for continuing to learn while teaching. 

I want to have people to look up to and aspire to be like but humans are humans and have flaws. 

Learning about Douglass' story is inspiring. Resisted enslavers. Learned how to read and write and teach others to do the same. Ran away to freedom. Was considered one of the great orators in the 19th century and one of America's greatest writers. 

I am learning he also advocated for territorial expansion at the expense of the Indigenous Peoples who lived in those territories. 

This is just another reminder that humans, are flawed. Douglass advocated for the advacement of Black Americans and used this position to become an insider that helped the system at the expense of others. 

People are complex. I know I hold positions that are in conflict with what I believe in theory.

People are nuanced and to celebrate someone without acknowledging the not so great decisions and positions they held is not something I want to do.