Tag: Frederick Douglass

On the 4th of July while many in America were celebrating the day with barbeques and such, LeBron James wanted to use the national holiday to remind his millions of followers of a message from long ago about the differences for many millions of Americans in what the 4th of July signifies for them.

James shared an excerpt from Douglass’ famous speech about the 4th of July, entitled “What to a slave is the 4th of July?”

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What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour. Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented, of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. There are forces in operation which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery. "The arm of the Lord is not shortened," and the doom of slavery is certain. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope- FREDERICK DOUGLASS 🙏🏾✊🏾💪🏾👑

A post shared by LeBron James (@kingjames) on Jul 4, 2020 at 2:32pm PDT

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