Fellow citizens -- Douglass addresses his audience in this way to emphasize both his similarities and differences with them. As an ex-slave, he enjoys many of the freedoms the white listeners take for granted. However, as a black man, he still belongs to a maligned section of the American population, and he points this out through irony. He assumes the voice of "us" and "we" when he addresses the audience to underscore the irony of his unique place in American society.