• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
BlackDoctor.org
Where Wellness & Culture Connect

Where Wellness & Culture Connect

  • Health Conditions
  • Wellness
  • Lifestyle
  • Longevity
  • Resource Centers
    • Cancer Resource Center
    • Covid Resource Center
  • Find A Doctor
  • BDO TV
Home / Lifestyle / Racial Injustice / Frederick Douglass’ Descendants Deliver His July 4th Speech Nearly 150 Years Later

Frederick Douglass’ Descendants Deliver His July 4th Speech Nearly 150 Years Later


Nearly 150 years ago, Frederick Douglass gave a groundbreaking speech, “What is a Slave to the 4th of July?” Now, as the U.S. is in the middle of celebrating this Independence Day, there is a newfound nationwide unrest that calls for systemic reform across the board. Voices have been rising up in the form of protests from every ethnic group with a resounding voice that challenges the system to finally say, “yes, Black Lives do matter.”

Some of these new voices are the descendants of Douglas himself. In this short film above, published by NPR, five young descendants of Frederick Douglass read and respond to excerpts of his famous speech

Here’s an excerpt:

“…Fellow-citizens; above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. If I do forget, if I do not faithfully remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, “may my right hand forget her cunning, and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth!” To forget them, to pass lightly over their wrongs, and to chime in with the popular theme, would be treason most scandalous and shocking, and would make me a reproach before God and the world. My subject, then fellow-citizens, is AMERICAN SLAVERY. I shall see, this day, and its popular characteristics, from the slave’s point of view. Standing, there, identified with the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July! Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. Standing with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will, in the name of humanity which is outraged, in the name of liberty which is fettered, in the name of the constitution and the Bible, which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can command, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery — the great sin and shame of America! “I will not equivocate; I will not excuse;” I will use the severest language I can command; and yet not one word shall escape me that any man, whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice, or who is not at heart a slaveholder, shall not confess to be right and just….”

You May Also Like
15 Natural Remedies for Aches and Pains

For a full transcript of the speech, click here.

July 5, 2020 by Blackdoctor

Read Next Article

The Latest In Racial Injustice

Black women 2021 Olympics

Are Black Women Welcome at the 2021 Olympics?

Questions of discrimination in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics have surfaced ever since the International Olympic Committee barred forms of protests such as Black Lives Matter clothing, kneeling, and raising a fist. As expected, this was met with strong scrutiny especially read more about Are Black Women Welcome at the 2021 Olympics?

‘Hey Siri, I’m Getting Pulled Over’: iPhone App Automatically Records Police

As of late, more and more people are speaking out in light of the murder of Daunte Wright, but how do we share with the world what we've known for decades: that our men and women have been dying at read more about ‘Hey Siri, I’m Getting Pulled Over’: iPhone App Automatically Records Police

Prisons and the Pandemic: An Untold Tragedy

As we struggle to reset and find a “new normal” in the midst of a pandemic, we have mainly been focusing on our personal challenges. Yes, we know about what is happening in the nursing homes but, again, that quest read more about Prisons and the Pandemic: An Untold Tragedy

Doctors Still Believe Black People Don’t Feel Pain; And It’s Being Taught In Medical School

Black and Hispanic patients in U.S. emergency rooms are less likely to receive medication to ease acute pain than their white counterparts. That is, unfortunately, a fact. There has been a study that found when a Black person enters an read more about Doctors Still Believe Black People Don’t Feel Pain; And It’s Being Taught In Medical School

KKK Threatens Birmingham Government Officials, Where is the News Coverage?

2020 has been one heck of a year. Starting with the loss of a legendary athlete, Kobe Bryant, to a pandemic that put the entire world in a panic state, to the passing of George Floyd which has sparked police read more about KKK Threatens Birmingham Government Officials, Where is the News Coverage?

BREAKING: Attorney General Keith Ellison Brings Charges Against All 4 Officers in Floyd Case

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said that he will elevate charges against the former Minneapolis police officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck while adding charges of aiding and abetting murder against the other three officers at the scene, according read more about BREAKING: Attorney General Keith Ellison Brings Charges Against All 4 Officers in Floyd Case

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to our newsletter

Poll

Popular Posts

  • Marjorie Harvey: Fit, Fine & 57!Marjorie Harvey: Fit, Fine & 57!
  • LL Cool J & Wife Simone Smith Celebrate 25 Years Married: “We Celebrate Life”LL Cool J & Wife Simone Smith Celebrate 25 Years Married: "We Celebrate Life"
  • Snoop Dogg & Wife: 26 Years And Still Going StrongSnoop Dogg & Wife: 26 Years And Still Going Strong
  • Halle Berry: Over 50 ‘Just Keeps Getting Better With Time’Halle Berry: Over 50 'Just Keeps Getting Better With Time'
  • Queen Latifah Sheds Light on BMI Chart Flaws: “I’m Just Thick”Queen Latifah Sheds Light on BMI Chart Flaws: "I'm Just Thick"

Podcast

Footer

Where Wellness & Culture Connect

BDO is the world’s largest and most comprehensive online health resource specifically targeted to African Americans. BDO understands that the uniqueness of Black culture - our heritage and our traditions - plays a role in our health. BDO gives you access to innovative new approaches to the health information you need in everyday language so you can break through the disparities, gain control and live your life to its fullest.

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Learn More About

  • Hepatitis C
  • Diabetes
  • Sickle Cell
  • Mental Health
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise With Us
  • BlackDoctor.org Advertising and Sponsorship Policy
  • Daily Vitamina
  • TBH

Copyright © 2022, BlackDoctor, Inc. All rights reserved.