Benjamin Banneker

Where Benjamin Banneker first lived, he was a free man and lived with his family. But he still faced prejudice from his neighbors and other citizens. Moreover, he had an education and was first taught by his grandmother, and went to school. Apart from this, he was very interested in clocks and studied how they work. Additionally, “in 1789, the year he turned fifty-eight, he forecast his first eclipse”. Furthermore, he disliked when people paid more attention to his race than his work contributions. Clearly he wanted people to pay attention to what he was doing instead of simply where he was from. In addition to this, he called out Thomas Jefferson on owning “over 600 during his lifetime” (he was talking about slaves) but also saying that everyone is equal. Benjamin Banneker said that if Jefferson really believed this then he would free his slaves. When Banneker died “on October 9, 1806” most of his belongings were erased too. His house was on fire at the same time as his funeral. In the conclusion of this biography, it says “even free blacks never escaped the confines of race.”
https://www.whitehousehistory.org/benjamin-banneker