Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Blog 188: The Fourth of July

 
By Ahmad Daniels
 Guest Writer


It has been said a word takes on its meaning at the moment of its conception. And while time and pop-culture may attempt to give new meaning to words, the essence of words is immutable.

Such is the case with the “N” word and what inevitably will become the “R” word presently used by a Washington NFL team.  Perhaps the same rule applies to historical events.

On July 5, 1852, Abolitionist Frederick Douglass delivered a speech at Rochester, New York entitled, “What to the American Slave is Your 4th of July?”  Mr. Douglass knew the irony in speaking of an independence that Afrikan people had never known.

Which begs the question; Can the “Fourth of July” be divorced from a day of remembrance that embraced the enslavement of Blacks in 1776?  Or, can one apathetically dismiss the history of the day and blindly “jump on board” as has long been the case with the “N” word?  Each person must decide this for him/herself.

To your journey!

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