One of the most quintessential Black customs of the Fourth of July celebrations in the United States has become the deliberate distribution of Frederick Douglass’ “What is the Fourth of July to the Slave?” speech, a “woke” practice before the term became a political football for right-wing provocateurs to perpetually escalate the culture wars. The distribution of the speech on Black social networks was a rite of passage for both the sender and the receiver. It was a profound signal, a call to our community to remind ourselves that freedom and liberation are separate concepts, more accurately defined as processes fraught with ongoing struggle, and that for Black people, at times, they have shaped the very nature of their existence in America.
On July 5, 1852, at a ceremony commemorating the Declaration of Independence, Douglass highlighted the hypocrisy of a nation celebrating freedom and independence while millions of African Americans remained enslaved. He contrasted the joyous celebration of white Americans with the continued suffering and injustice suffered by slaves, denouncing the failure of the United States to uphold the principles of liberty and equality enshrined in its founding document. Douglass called for immediate action to abolish slavery and challenged his audience to confront the moral and political contradictions of American society.
But this year, the speeches will be different. In the midst of the crisis of the 2024 presidential cycle, let’s return to Douglas’s brilliant rhetoric. The incumbent president was poorly utilized in the first presidential debate, and the Republican challenger is a former president who had little to do with the truth in that same debate. Given the candidates who led the way in last week’s disappointing and, for some, undermining debate, there can be no debate about the lack of true rhetorical mastery in our presidential politics. In this context, Douglas’s 172-year-old speech is a beacon for those of us who believe that the ability to be precise and persuasive (through rhetoric) is the cornerstone of every presidential candidate. Both sides are lacking in this regard.
In “What Is the Fourth of July to a Slave?” Douglass's mission was Herculean: to write and deliver a speech to a largely abolitionist audience (white women) that would persuade the public beyond the Female Anti-Slavery Society in Rochester, New York, of the evil and cruelty of slavery, and the impossibility of honoring America's founding principles under the guise of bondage, which this peculiar institution was legally obligated to do.
The value of this speech in the current political climate lies in its ongoing appeal for justice and equality. It is a reminder of the ongoing struggle against racial injustice and systemic inequality. With a fraudulent right-wing Supreme Court at the helm of the American judiciary (and, more recently, the presidency itself), debates about civil rights, police brutality, reproductive rights, the capacity of federal regulation, and the possibility of racial equity will continue to be central features of our public discourse. In this context, Douglas’s speech resonates as a powerful critique of complacency and a call to action. It urges contemporary audiences to reflect on the deadly dissonance between American ideals and the practical politics needed to move toward a more just and inclusive society.
At a crucial point in the speech, Douglass rhetorically asserts: “What point of the anti-slavery creed do you wish me to insist on? On what subject do you need light to shed on the people of this country? Do you wish to prove that a slave is a man? The point has already been admitted. No one doubts it” [my emphasis].
This Independence Day, it is imperative that people read/reread what Frederick Douglass said on the eve of the American Civil War in 1852. This speech is a masterpiece of rhetoric. It reminds us of all the reasons writing instructors teach young writers to avoid rhetorical questions. “What is the Fourth of July to the Slave?” is a masterpiece in developing rhetorical questions. Some are answered, some are not. But Douglas's technique (in speech and/or writing) is so profound and penetrating that it supports the rhetorical power of questions that the speaker doesn't actually have to answer. The audience knows the answer. No one doubts it.
We are not on the brink of another civil war, but as a nation, we are at an unconventional crossroads. Should President Biden hand over his incumbent campaign to a rhetorically gifted young Democratic leader? How did former President Trump, with his legal troubles, his fiscal responsibility, and his contempt for democracy itself, once again become the Republican nominee? And what do these questions mean in a Supreme Court filled with right-wing political activist judges committed to Scalianist fundamentalism that seeks to take power away from the people and put it in the hands of an oligarchic dictatorship?
These questions are not rhetorical. And there are no simple or conventionally agreed-upon answers. They pose an existential challenge to the American democratic experiment. The truth of the matter is that America is a deeply divided nation. Some of us still believe in an inclusive democracy where women and people of color are equal citizens. Where women have freedom over their own bodies. Where immigrants cannot be inherently illegal. Where the judicial system applies the same rules to everyone as it does to the wealthy elite and/or the political class. And where reparations should be paid to the descendants of Africans who were enslaved in this country. Some of us believe in America’s potential as a beacon of democracy. Some of us do not. No one doubts this.
Dr. James B. Peterson is the founder of Hip Hop Scholars, an organization dedicated to developing the educational potential of hip hop. He Hip Hop Headphones: A Scholar's Critical Playlist.