"[Y]e can not deny the fact, that we are the Descendants of your Fathers, and the Offspring of your Mothers—And yet are held in the most abject state of Tyranny and Bondage; that you do make us stand up like Beasts before your Tribunal, and look downwards without Compassion into the Earth,"
Banneker emphasizes the shared ancestry between individuals holding power like Jefferson and African-Americans (referred to as "the African Race" here in Banneker's letter ), yet they are subjected to "Tyranny and Bondage." He critiques the disparity between the revolutionaries' rhetoric on human rights and the dehumanizing treatment he received by the justice system at a time when African-Americans had limited recourse against discrimination within such. This contrast between proclaimed and practiced ethics, Benjamin Banneker contends, undermines Jefferson's claim to advocate for freedom while maintaining a society that blatantly infringes on fundamental human rights.