Reflecting Reflexively

A teacher of mine recommended that I read this speech and write a reflection on it. Although, I think his primary motivation was to get me 'in touch with my 'black-ness' ( construct anyone?), I'm pretty sure he was just annoyed with the fact that I, unlike him... like white people. But I did it anyway, and I surprised myself with my reflection. Here is the shortened version of it.

I must wholly admit that while I’m not the largest fan of the July 4th holidays (and mind that my bias is not from any immediate occasion), was amped and ready to change the browser page from Douglas’s article to the secondary choice for this essay at the first sign of any notion that I, as a black American, should not be included or be made to feel guilty for celebrating July 4th, half-heartedly or not. As I scrolled through the eloquence flowing from Frederick’s mouth and thus his intellect, I pictured him standing on that platform, orating this passion, and being almost obligated to offer in the first three paragraphs an apology for his inadequacies; inadequacies that surely did not exist, but in that time must have been addressed lest his speech fall on deaf or resentful ears.
I read on.
Towards the fourth paragraph, I realize the grandeur of this metaphorical speech. He speaks of the holiday, without using self inclusive language. Each statement is about ‘their’ freedoms, ‘their’ deliverances, and ‘their’ political mobility. This act, while so seemingly simple shouted out to me and hopefully the individuals in attendance, that because Douglas was not including himself, being a black figure, he was demonstrating that blacks as a people had not had their freedoms, or their deliverances. He goes on to make note of the fact that the nation is young and expresses his gladness in it. This expression in and of itself spoke that Douglas believed in an age of change for the nation of America as it was. The nation in its younger years would be selfish with its allocation of freedoms and rights and in its determination of who qualified for them, as would a young child with its playthings, but the years that the nation had to mature left hope that the nation, in its maturity, may learn to share those freedoms and distribute them evenly and fairly.Further on in the speech, the metaphor continues as he indirectly compares the situations and events of the whites declaring their independence from England, with the blacks declaring their independence from their masters. This comparison also lends itself to the civil rights movement that was to take place some 100 years later. He speaks of the oppression whites experienced from England, who had “imposed upon, its colonial children, such restraints, burdens, and limitations, as, in its mature judgment, it deemed, wise, right, and proper,” and how the self-proclaimed ‘Americans’ stood out against this. Douglas tells of his agreement and admiration of this, but it is an agreement that is characterized by blacks speaking and standing out against those “imposed…restraints” cast upon them by whites and slave owners. His opinions are duplicitous, a mirage within praise, and if deciphered, prove a point, of which I am certain is inarguable, and it is that every man, should be admired and supported in his quest for that which is undeniably his own: freedom. However inarguable this revelation may be, whites denied it to black Americans for scores of years after their own adherence to this point was carried out. If one is not convinced of this, he may be reminded of events such as the Atlanta Race Riot of 1906, The Red Summer of 1919, Bloody Sunday of 1965, or Jim Crow segregation and discriminatory laws, to name a few. The fact may be hard to swallow, it may elicit uncomfort, but it is there, clear and hard and shining. It cannot be gotten around. But, to continue. It is clear that his intentions are to underline how whites did the same thing that blacks should and were doing by breaking tools and running away from plantations, and how the whites were also called “ plotters of mischief, agitators, and rebels” when they themselves sought to break from the chains of England. Blacks were and have been depicted as trouble makers by their white counterparts, when they were simply speaking and standing out against oppression and injustice. Again, if one is in need of examples, Rosa Parks being arrested for refusing to relinquish her seating ( a.k.a trouble maker), or Martin Luther King Jr’s marchers being forced to retreat backwards to Selma due to the rain of tear gas and blows, should be a good starting point. More examples are available upon request. I have taken into account that it may be argued that years beyond this speech, organizations such as SNICK and the Black Panther Party can rightfully be deemed as militant and harmful in their tactics. Douglas, years before, has taken these and other organizations and events that were perhaps overseen by slaves (poisoning of masters or organized attacks) into account when he states that “Oppression makes a wise man mad”.Reflections on this speech can be made for hours and pages, but I end at the present with the statement that left the deepest impression. Douglas, most notably demonstrates a mindset of progression when he states:“Trust no future, however pleasantLet the dead past, bury its dead;Act, act in the living presentHeart within, and God overhead.”A mind and a heart of change, eyes that see those things that are hard to look upon, and remember but are careful not to dwell, acknowledge but do not obsess, an ear that hears and a mind that learns but ultimately takes it upon itself to constructs a unique opinion about its identity; these are the criterion that I use to assess matters critically, and reflexively. Using this formula of thought, I ultimately gather and conclude from this speech and those supporting it that although history is a weapon, its blades are dull, if we do not use it to move forward.