The Never-ending BattleSlavery has been a controversial issue in the United States for hundreds ofyears.
Since the rise of slavery in the America, there have been numerousaccounts of resistance and opposition. Some of the more famous accounts ofresistance against slavery and racism are Harriet Tubman, the mastermind behindthe Underground Railroad, Rosa Parks, who refused to relinquish her seat on apublic bus to a White man, and Martin Luther King Jr. s movement and mostfamous speech I Have A Dream. Although slavery is illegal in the United Statestoday, I believe that the fight against slavery will never end.
Slavery in theUnited States is about more than taking Blacks freedom; it is about equalrights for all races and ethnicities. Sadly, there is too much hatred and greedin the world to abolish slavery and racism forever. Frederick Douglass Independence Day Speech at Rochester in 1852, is one ofthe most profound speeches of American history. It is unthinkable that a Blackman would speak out so strongly against slavery and Whites during a time whenthere was so much tension between the Blacks and Whites. Douglass was the idealperson to give such a speech due to his experiences as a slave.
With hispersonal life experiences, combined with his education achieved in England, hewas able to present himself with dignity and authority. Through his speech,Douglass reveals the hypocrisy of America. The best example of this is the lastline of the speech, which states, for the revolting barbarity andshameless hypocrisy, America reins without a rival (Douglass 5)Douglass plainly explains how phony the white leaders of that time were. Thisis my favorite quote from this article because he points out the hypocrisy ofthe laws written by the white male property owners. What is this but theacknowledgment that the slave is a moral, intellectual, and responsible being(Douglass 3).
Douglass is explaining that a Black man can be put to death forseventy-two crimes in the state of Virginia when a White man can be put to deathfor only two. If a being, such as a Black man, committed any of these crimes,then doesnt that classify that being as intellectual and responsible? And ifby law, that the White man wrote, Blacks are considered to be intellectual andresponsible beings, then how can Blacks be considered by White men to be the beastsof the field (Douglass 3)? Therefore, law defines Blacks not only as menequal to whites, but as human beings too. Because the confederate flag has long been a part of southern heritage, it isstill hung over many businesses and government agencies. There has been adispute about this for many years, but was not heavily covered by the mediauntil the beginning of 2000. There are many mixed opinions about the Confederateflag.
Numerous White southerners believe that the flag should fly over the stateCapital because, to them, it represents the freedom that was just out of reachduring the Civil War. For many others including myself, the Confederate flagsymbolizes more than the Confederate States of America. It stands for thepersecution of the Black race as well as other minority groups, in every way,shape, and form. Joe Neal, Black Caucus vice-chairman, has similar thoughts inLisa Goddards article entitled South Carolina Governor Signs Confederate FlagCompromise of WIS-TV in Columbia South. In it Neal states The flagrepresents the Confederacy that enslaved, exploited, murdered, raped and killedour people for over three hundred years, but somehow it seems okay to ask us tofly it in front of our building (Neal).
Nevertheless, there are many whoare in favor of keeping the flag flying over the Capitol building. Throughout the entire Fourth of July speech, Douglass sarcastically comparesthe Negroes to the lowest forms on earth. The most blatant example of this is onthe third page where Douglass says that When the dogs in your streets, whenthe fowls of the air, when the cattle on your hills, when the fish of the seaand the reptiles that crawl shall be unable to distinguish the slave from abrute, then will I argue with you that slave is a man (Douglass 3). Douglassillustrates to his fellow Americans, White and Black, that the slave has fewerrights than most animals. It helps the listeners to see how inhumane the slaveswere being treated. In addition, how they were imprisoned in there own country.
If they were considered by law to be human beings, how then could they havefewer rights and less freedom than the dogs in your streets and thefish of the sea (Douglass 3)? With this speech, Douglass revealed the truthto all – the truth that Blacks were considered and treated like the mostinsignificant life forms on earth. Douglass continues by speaking in depth about the hypocrisy of America forcelebrating Independence Day. The Fourth of July for the American slave is aday that reveals to him the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is theconstant victim (Douglass 4) In my point of view, this is the strongest quotemade by Douglass because it supports his fact that most slave owners think thattheir slaves, are worth less than the ground of which they stand on. Once again,it shows the hypocrisy of the Fourth of July at that time.
The Fourth of Julysymbolizes the freedom of the United States and all those who reside there, yetthe blacks have the least freedom of all. They are stuck in their own livinghell. One would assume that after decades of education about slavery and racism,racial conflicts would be rare. Unfortunately it is just the opposite. Only adecade ago was the highly publicized beating of Rodney King by four Los Angelespolice officers. Two of the officers were found guilty 1993, in federal court ofviolating King’s civil rights and served 30 months in federal prison.
At themoment King is on probation until 2003, for being convicted of hit-and-runinvolving his wife and spousal abuse in a separate incident (AssociatedPress). Slavery has been a part of social dynamics for thousands of years startingwith the Pharos who forced the Egyptians into building the pyramids. And it wasnot until the Europeans brought Blacks from Africa that slavery became presentin America. To stop a problem like racism and slavery, on must find the sourceof the problem. I believe that slavery began as a result of mans greed andselfishness.
From that, hatred between races grew until today when people arecharged as suspects of horrific crimes based on the color of their skin. It is avery sad reality. Although I believe that the fight against racism will never bewon, I do think that much progress will be made. Works CitedAssociated Press (2001).
Rodney King reluctant symbol of police brutality. Retrieved March 5, 2001 from http://www. cnn. com/2001/LAW/03/02/beating.
anniversity. king. 02/index. htmlGoddard, Lisa (2000).
Stateline. org. South Carolina Gov Signs ConfederateFlag Compromise. Retrieved March 5, 2001 from http://www.stateline.org/story.cfm?StoryID=78845Category: Social Issues
