Independence Day; A Reflection on Frederick Douglass’ “Fifth of July” 170 Years Later.
Frederick Douglass’ address in Corinthian Hall to the citizens of Rochester, New York and the greater nation on “What, to the slave is the Fourth of July” is just as audacious and telling now as it was then. Despite the 170 year gap between his speech and my inquiry of it, the tension in this country remains unbearably strained.
While in its most literal sense, the word ‘slave’ may be an extreme in today’s language, the continual killings of unarmed black men by police officers, the uptick of mass shootings across the nation, and the recent Supreme Court ruling, overturning Roe vs. Wade, and banning abortion rights across several states suggests that we certainly aren’t free either.
So what does the 4th of July represent? What does ‘independence’ signify currently? In researching the definition for ‘independent’, I came across four distinct definitions:
- Free from outside control; not depending on another’s authority.
- Not depending on another for livelihood or subsistence.
- Capable of thinking or acting for oneself.
- Not connected with another or each other; separate.
The difference and distance between each of these definitions is great, and the fact that this variety in understanding can exist within one word is astounding.
On an individual level, if a young college student stated “I want to be independent” this statement would more than likely elicit definitions two and three, as the context suggests that the student is moving toward self-sufficiency and living life on his/her own.
On a group or nationwide level, the same statement “I want to be independent” could elicit all four definitions (though given the context, definitions one and four are more favorable).
In these examples, not only do we see the importance of context, but we also see the potential of miscommunication and hostility — all from one word. The potential difference in understanding is akin to one person calling a shirt red, and another person seeing it as blue. Independent is a loaded word filled with as many diverse histories and cultures as it has definitions.
Reflecting on this brings me back to my earlier questions: What does the 4th of July represent? What does independence signify currently? And for so many of us — both here today and gone before, both born and unborn — it’s anything but. You can’t celebrate what you don’t have, and on the 4th, those hotdogs, those hamburgers, those fireworks, and the flag is a reminder that our independence, which has been more than earned, and more than deserved, has yet to make headway.
So returning back to Douglass’s initial question: “What to the Slave is the 4th of July? His answer: “A day that reveals more than all the other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the victim.” And 170 years later, I unfortunately still concur.
