This is another post from this past summer when a friend and I were writing a bit together about what we were learning.

Thoughts on The Meaning of the 4th of July to the Slave in today’s America

A few weeks ago I wrote Im not Innocent. It was a confession of the racism within, an apology of my failures and silence, and an effort for accountabiity as I aim try to live an anti-racist lifestyle with love and action. In it I mentioned how certain events and coworkers challenged the lens through which I saw America and my place in society. Frederick Douglass’s speech The Meaning of the 4th of July to the Slave was also an influential voice to my understanding of the hypocrisy of most white Americans. We studied it with our 8th graders. I had never heard of it myself and didn’t know anything about Frederick Douglass. 

As we celebrate the 4th of July this week, during a moment (hopefully more than just) in time when more people are trying to listen and learn and do more to stop injustice, I want to share Frederick Douglass’s speech. Words that speak into our present state of oppression but were spoken more than 150 years ago. If you haven’t read his speech, I encourage you to please do so first here or here. (The second link is organized differently and includes the whole speech. I found it very difficult to find the whole speech with nothing taken out, so the second link could be incomplete too, but it is the one I used to study.)

Before I dive in, I want to give you a little bit of background for this particular speech (source here). Douglass was speaking on July 5, 1852, in Rochester Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York. This was his residence at the time, so essentially he was speaking to his neighbors. Also, he mentions the president a few times so I figured I would look him up — it was Millard Fillmore. 

I encourage you to read this speech in full. Frederick Douglass not only speaks of the hypocrisy of our nation during the era of slavery but also of the bravery of America’s founding fathers and the worthy call of the Declaration of Independence, referring to it as “an instrument with saving principles.” Frederick Douglass had escaped from slavery. He speaks about seeing the ships of men, women, and children pull up into docks in Baltimore. He had every right to degrade the nation that had treated him as less than a man, but instead he speaks of the hope and the good that he believed was possible. His words have caused me to appreciate more than ever the documents that built this nation, while also opening my eyes even more to how we have failed to live up to its principles. He speaks in reference to a young America: “May he not hope that high lessons of wisdom, of justice and of truth, will yet give direction to her destiny? Were the nation older, the patriot’s heart might be sadder, and the reformer’s brow heavier. Its future might be shrouded in gloom, and the hope of its prophets go out in sorrow.” More than 150 years later this is the cry and hope of many still. His words put even more weight into the weariness that I have seen recently from black leaders, influencers, and friends. 

There were a few weeks in June when it seemed trendy to speak about injustice in social media. I felt the pull and space to post a confession and a resolve to not be silent anymore. (There is always space to do what is right–it just isn’t always accepted or as appreciated, so I recognize the word “space” can be something to hide behind and justify silence.) But protesting was a little less acceptable. I heard things like, “I wish they could just be peaceful. This “rioting” isn’t accomplishing anything.” We saw police officers responding with violence. Protests and protestors were considered unsafe. President Trump literally called protestors “thugs.” But isn’t it ironic that our very country’s birth started in a similar way. There weren’t always pretty, clean, and cordial conversations. Douglass reminds the crowd of New Yorkers of something we (white people) have heard and said over the past few weeks as well. “It is fashionable to do so; but there was a time when to pronounce against England, and in favor of the cause of the colonies, tried men’s souls. They who did so were accounted in their day, plotters of mischief, agitators and rebels, dangerous men.” He continues, “They were peace men; but they preferred revolution to peaceful submission to bondage. They were quiet men; but they did not shrink from agitating against oppression. They showed forbearance; but that they knew its limits. They believed in order; but not in the order of tyranny. With them, nothing was “settled” that was not right. With them, justice, liberty and humanity were “final;” not slavery and oppression. You may well cherish the memory of such men. They were great in their day and generation. Their solid manhood stands out the more as we contrast it with these degenerate times.” Why do most of us not study this speech in school! These words teach and inspire me to want to be a better nation as a whole. ——> Now here are some words to that part of your brain that says, “but what about the violence during the protests?” – A majority of the protestors desired to be peaceful but bold and clear. Yes, there were white and black people damaging property and being violent but that was not the nature or intent of the cause as a whole. And seriously don’t they have a right to be angry? And, again, this was not the majority. But when lives are in danger and no one is listening what else is there to do? And should we even still be arguing about this? Don’t we see that we need to stop hiding behind so many thought patterns and just see black lives as valuable as our own?

But, such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth [of ] July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day?

Gut punch. The audacity to have this man speak on this day about this day as someone who escaped the bonds of slavery! When I read these words years ago, I began to see the hypocrisy that is America. I could now understand why athletes kneeled during the National Anthem (an action that really isn’t distracting or one that interferes with people hearing or singing in their own patriotic way anyway.) If the laws and systems (such as education, healthcare, justice, etc.) that are proud markers of our nation’s freedom and for its citizens are only fairly and adequate caring for some of its citizens, then why would those who experience oppression and differential treatment claim them proudly? Essentially we are saying, “Hey men and women of color, sing this song about how great America is. All the hate you have experienced, all the pain and fear, and danger you and your family for years have been in isn’t real. Just ignore the memory of your American experience and play your sport. You are an athlete. America has brought you so far.”  I am going to go there, but I think deep down a lot of white Americans think that we do people of color a favor when we let them _____________ (lead something, speak, compliment them, treat them like a friend…), and this contributes to our silence because we think we are innocent of any kind racism or that we somehow escape white supremacy. I wonder if these people were in some way thinking they were honoring Douglass or doing something for him by asking him to speak. Or maybe they hadn’t woke up yet (that sounds familiar). Or maybe it was just a brash insensitivity. Or, were they trying to prove to themselves they were different then their southern counterparts? Woo. This is tough. This is ugly. But this is real real, and it comes from self-reflection and an honest look inside. 

“But I fancy I hear some one of my audience say, it is just in this circumstance that you and your brother abolitionists fail to make a favorable impression on the public mind. Would you argue more, and denounce less, would you persuade more, and rebuke less, your cause would be much more likely to succeed.” 

“If they would just be calmer. If they just wouldn’t protest. If they were just peaceful.”  These are statements I have heard over the past few weeks. White people said the same things during the time of slavery. “If black people would just act and speak differently (or not at all), then maybe their cause would be heard.” And yet it seems we as a society today think that because there isn’t slavery now, we are a more evolved nation. These same things apply 150 years later. The actions are different but our hearts are the same.

“But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing to be argued. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? That point is conceded already. Nobody doubts it. The slaveholders themselves acknowledge it in the enactment of laws for their government. They acknowledge it when they punish disobedience on the part of the slave. There are seventy-two crimes in the State of Virginia, which, if committed by a black man, (no matter how ignorant he be), subject him to the punishment of death; while only two of the same crimes will subject a white man to the like punishment.” 

Recently, we heard about the death of an INNOCENT man, Elijah McClain in Aurora, CO. He was a 23 year old black man who looked “suspicious” as he walked back from picking up an iced tea for his brother. Three officers got involved and 15 minutes later Elijah was brain dead. Around this time, I saw tweets of a mug shot resurface of a white man– someone very much still alive- who had killed many in a mass shooting in a theatre in this same city years back. This man surrendered to police (everyone knew he had weapons). He was arrested and brought into jail for a fair trial with a complete investigation. Someone called the police on Elijah never believing him to be dangerous and seeing that he had no weapons. He was literally trying to prove his innocence to three angry, relentless police officers. Douglass’s quote and this incident among many are evidence that white lives were more valued then and now. 

In paragraphs 51-62, Douglass speaks of the relationship between American Christianity and the American slave trade—the role the church played in not only promoting slavery but also in failing to use truth and its influence to abolish slavery. A few days ago, Lecrae tweeted, “I’m always so confused with people who think anti-racism = being political. Racism is more than an intent to discriminate. It can also be unconscious bias and structural inequality. Jesus is anti-racist.” More than 150 years before, Douglass speaks to his probably mostly white crowd about the American church: “The anti-slavery movement in this country will cease to be an anti-church movement, when the church of this country shall assume a favorable, instead or a hostile position towards that movement.” I have been a Christian for quite some time now. I haven’t been blind to the fact that most people I worship with on Sunday look like me. That most of the children in the Christian books we have read look like my son. Or the fact that my husband and I have been looking for the past two years for a nativity scene that wasn’t made up of people with skin as white as ours. In all honesty, I am at a loss of what else to say. If there is anything I am confused about over the past month, it is the relationship between the church and race. I know the verses to believe and say. I am learning more and more of what to pray, but I am confused and frustrated. I see Christians that are reading, learning, posting, protesting, and calling. And that community encourages me. It’s hopeful. These are all fruitful actions. But then I see strong believers, ones that I love and respect that care with their whole hearts for the unborn (which I do too) and firmly believe that unborn lives matter, which I firmly believe. But, they see black men and women fighting for their precious lives and pass it over. It makes me sick, uneasy, worried, and unsure. But, then again, we have been lukewarm in sharing the gospel, so why is it any surprise that we would be lukewarm in fighting oppression? This is where I plan to spend time studying over the next few months— reading books about race and the church (recommendations welcomed), reading scripture, watching documentaries, and listening to podcasts. I know that understanding my past sin better and that of the church will help me confess and move forward with faith in a good, sovereign God and love for fellow man made in His image.  

I have never considered myself patriotic, but Frederick Douglass causes me to have more hope in our country by pointing us back to our founding—and not just in an Americana nostalgic way. Let’s remember what and who built this country and cling to Douglass’s words: “May he not hope that high lessons of wisdom, of justice and of truth, will yet give direction to her destiny?” Surely there can still be hope for this. As we celebrate the freedoms we experience daily this weekend, as we think fondly on America and what it has meant to our families and our lives: think about what it would look like if we actually believed and lived out the words our forefathers wrote out (even if they, too, did not believe or act them out to their fullest)! How much greater their success in creating the Declaration of Independence if it accomplished something whole and inclusive (like it was intended) and not partial. America would be far more free, far more proud, far more united. I want to leave you with more of Douglass’s words. May they convict and inspire as you celebrate this weekend. 

Pride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, prompt you to celebrate and to hold it in perpetual remembrance. I have said that the Declaration of Independence is the ring-bolt to the chain of your nation’s destiny; so, indeed, I regard it. The principles contained in that instrument are saving principles. Stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost. From the round top of your ship of state, dark and threatening clouds may be seen. Heavy billows, like mountains in the distance, disclose to the leeward huge forms of flinty rocks! That bolt drawn, that chain broken, and all is lost. Cling to this day — cling to it, and to its principles, with the grasp of a storm-tossed mariner to a spar at midnight.

-k