A Black Conservative’s Thoughts on Independence Day
By Jeff Charles | Jul 04, 2021 4:00 PM ET
Another celebration of the founding of the United States of America has arrived and, as always, it is yet another reflection upon the history of this nation. This year, Independence Day comes amid heightened racial tensions, a raucous debate over a controversial election, and an increasingly noxious political discourse.
With the viral footage showing the murder of George Floyd came protests, riots, and fiery discussions on race in America. More than any other in recent memory, this Independence Day has prompted some to question how black Americans should view the Fourth of July and what, if any, meaning it should have for those with such a troubled and complex history in this nation.
Indeed, while most African Americans celebrate the holiday, the specter of America’s original sin still lurks beneath the surface. For over a century, commemorations of that historical moment when a group of scrappy individuals elected to seize their freedom from a cruel and tyrannical government did not apply to everyone living in the Colonies. This is a fact not easily forgotten.
Echoes of abolitionist Frederick Douglass’ speech asking “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” continue to reverberate more than 150 years later. While addressing an audience in 1952, he said:
The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine.
