By Barbara Foushee:

I celebrated the Fourth of July by participating in the community reading of Frederick Douglass’ “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro”; the speech was given in Rochester, NY, on July 5, 1852 at the height of North American slavery. We must thank Mr. James Williams, Public Defender for Orange and Chatham Counties, for having the vision to plan an event of this type. The community reading was very well attended, even more so than last year.

The first part of the speech praises what the Founding Fathers did for this country but the speech soon develops into a condemnation of the attitude of American society towards slavery. The speech ends on an optimistic note, Douglass believed that anti-slavery sentiments would eventually triumph over pro-slavery forces.

At the completion of the community reading there was a discussion period for those who had questions or comments about the speech. One of the comments went as follows, “As I walked to this venue for this reading, I realized that I was walking through a sea of white during this town’s Fourth of July celebration.” This statement was made by a woman of color. The statement was timely as well as thought-provoking for the audience; you could have heard a pin drop because I am sure that the comment opened up thoughts and feelings that most folks would rather not discuss in an open forum.

There is a lot going on in America right now in reference to race relations and continuing discrimination and it is unfortunate that so many of us are still unwilling or unable to talk about it. I believe that having an open dialogue could be the start to cure what is wrong in America and in our communities. There have been confrontations and lives lost, but yet most of us remain silent. The changing of laws and statutes does make a difference; but the powers that be can often find ways around these so we also have to be willing to change hearts and minds. We must be willing to be all inclusive every step of the way, in all aspects of our lives.

The comment that was made at the reading should have really caught the attention of everyone in the room and the question that we should be asking ourselves is, “How far have we really come?”