the impression that they werestill placed beneath the whites. A young Virginia servant realized that to be free was notto be like everyone else (224). Like many other former slaves, she perceived that a personwas only something in America if you were white. With all the hate and spite caused bythe abuse from blacks and whites to one another, both now need to unlearn the oldrelationship (337). With dignity and pride, former slaves began to start their new lives as free men andwomen. A convention was held for the rewriting of the Constitution so it would includeblacks as equals to the whites. The former slaves tried to make peace with the whites andhoped for unification of the two. At the Convention of Colored People, the delegates,former slaves, stated, We have not come together in battle array to assume a boastfulattitude and to talk loudly of high- sounding principles,... still we come together, we trust,in a spirit of meekness and of patriotic good-will toward all the people of the State (515). After experiencing massive sufferings during the war to protect their masters, theex-slaves loyalties were disputed. Evidently, the ex-slaves memories of the immensesacrifices they made for their ex-master during the Civil War truly displays their loyalty. Overcoming all the threats and economic duress, blacks started to vote in the elections,thus showing their first exercise of political power. To the slaves, dropping their ballot inthe box was a statement that anything was possible. Despite the cruel, harsh, anddisgusting attitudes between the blacks and the whites, there was hope. It is evident page after page in Been In The Storm So Long, the cruel, harsh, anddisgusted attitudes were displayed in both slaves and slaveholders. Although freedom wassought out, it was a never ending battle due to the lack of cooperation from neither sides.The blacks and whites could not interact with one another in a manner that wasdesperately need...
