Another way it helped was that it showed me how to believe in God despite the hatred and racism. This line means that slaves received letters from friends or relatives who lived in northern states, and they thought of the conditions as a dream situation. The slaves up north were living the type of life that slaves dreamed about living someday. In the houses of the free slaves up north, there were lights and inside bathrooms, but the slaves in the south did not enjoy such good living conditions. Second, the people up north can not take advantage of you without your doing something about it.
Folks is just folks.
None of the races are treated differently in the north. This poem tells much about the slavery days, and how hard slaves' living conditions were at the time. I think all people, not just black, should read this poem. Poems like this one should also serve as a motivation to young people today. If we as young people fail to get a good quality education today, we can find ourselves living in similar conditions.