ROCHESTER, NY – The same weekend that famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass 168 years ago made one of his most historically resounding speeches, a statue of Douglass was knocked down from its base and left near the Genesee River Gorge.
Located in Maplewood Park, the statue “had been placed on top of the gorge fence and was leaning against the fence” on the river side, according to a Rochester police statement. The statue was left about 50 feet from its pedestal.
The base and bottom of the statue were damaged, as was a finger on the statue’s left hand. The statue has been taken from the park for repairs, according to Lt. Jeffrey LaFave II.
Police said there were no signs of graffiti on the statue or anywhere else in the park.
Opinion: Frederick Douglass found hope in our Declaration of Independence. We also can.
Across the United States, Douglass’s July 5, 1852 speech, “What the Slave Is for the Fourth of July,” has been widely shared on social media and elsewhere as a reminder of the legacy of slavery and racism. from the country.
Douglass, a former slave, delivered the speech before the Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society at Corinthian Hall in downtown Rochester. He told listeners there and beyond that the country could not lay claim to the purest ideals while enslaving and oppressing its black citizens.
Douglas recognized the signers of the Declaration of Independence as “brave” and “great” men, but denounced the hypocrisy of celebrating July 4 as a day of freedom while slaves were not free.
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Independence Day for a slave, Douglass said, is “a day that reveals to him, more than all other days of the year, the great injustice and cruelty of which he is the constant victim.”
Douglass, who escaped slavery in Maryland in 1838 and settled in Rochester for about 30 years, said in the speech that the celebration of freedom and citizenship was offensive to the enslaved population.
“Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings for which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You can rejoice, I must cry.”
The speech followed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. The Fugitive Slave Act denied the freedom of slaves if they escaped to a free state and demanded that they be returned to their masters. It also prohibited fugitive slaves from testifying on their own behalf and having a jury trial. Douglass’s leadership is considered one of the most important anti-slavery speeches before the Civil War.
New York emancipated slaves on July 4, 1827, 25 years before Douglass’s speech. The African American community chose to celebrate emancipation on July 5 instead of the national holiday, so Douglass chose to mark his speech that day.
