Friday, July 3, 2009

"America reigns without a rival"



While you're stuffing your face, sitting under the stars and watching/taking part in celebrations that commemorate the day our forefathers declared their Independence (and Bill Pullman gave his moving speech to motivate the soldiers to defeat the aliens who wanted to annihilate Earth), Do NOT forget the words of Frederick Douglas



“What, to the American slave, is your Fourth 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 denunciation 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 of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States at this very hour.

Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms- of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival.”


The rest of the Speech is here


Let Freedom Ring

2 comments:

wynsters the tigress said...

it's good to be reminded, because so many tend to forget.

Brothers Blog said...

yes very good to be reminded. Great speech. My brother posted a story about 4th of july last year that I was unaware of. Very enlightening.