Let Me Go!

Parts of "Runaway: How a Slave Defied America's First President" by Bill Donahue had its boring parts. Still, I will never forget Ona Judge, the runaway slave. And of course, I will always remember George Washington, our first president. The story describes his strengths and weaknesses along with the strengths of her character.

Ona Judge was a strong woman. When she finally experienced freedom, she chose it over living in slavery ever again. Although she was the close friend of Martha Washington, George Washington's wife, she still hungered for freedom. Friendship and nothing else comes close to the ability to come and go as you please, in other words, to make decisions for your life is kingpin.

Although President Washington was a strong man, he had a weakness in his character. This weakness haunted his mind. Causing him never to grasp fully the importance of freedom not for only himself but for others who did not look like him or own any similarities to him that he could see.

Perhaps, he felt that a type of kindness would keep these slaves loyal and desirous of remaining at Mount Vernon. Also, there was his inner feeling that slaves lacked any intellect. In Bill Donahue's non fiction story, he comes across not as a hardened, bitter man who could not change, but as a man who would rather conform to society's laws. After all, there had always been slaves, why change now?

It saddened me to read about his obsessive letters written in order to find Ona Judge and bring her back to the plantation. However, What matters is that Ona Judge gained her freedom and stayed free. It continues to bring pain thinking about presidents and statesmen of our country who owned people as property. There is the desire to glorify their position as leaders. Then, there is the confrontation with their inability to have complete compassion for a race different from themselves. billdonahue.net/bio