BOSTON (WWLP) — Independence Day is just a day away, and
lawmakers are honoring the occasion in advance with the reading
of a famous 4th of July speech. 160 years ago, Frederick
Douglass, an escaped slave, delivered a speech called “ The
Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro;” giving rare perspective
to our national holiday. Lawmakers and state officials took
turns reading Douglass’s speech Tuesday, which talks about the
oppression of the British government and how hard-won
independence brought justice, liberty and prosperity to a new
nation. But, he famously asks, “What, to the American slave, is
your Fourth of July?” He answers that it is a day that shows
“more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and
cruelty to which he is the constant victim.” He talks about how
there can be no true liberty and justice until it is provided to
all. “Douglass challenges us in his speech to take
responsibility for our country, and tells us we cannot rely on
the work of previous generations to create what he ca