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What is Freedom to a Black Woman on The Fourth of July?
Our liberation is incomplete, and we continue to face resistance
The first Fourth of July celebration was not an inclusive affair, as most Black Americans were enslaved at the time. Contrary to the images of multiracial gatherings in the modern era, this day didn't initially symbolize liberty for everyone. If it had, it would also be the day our nation abolished slavery. Instead, the institution of race-based hereditary bondage continued for nearly ninety years after the American Revolution. So, while White people rejoiced that Britain would no longer subjugate them, they betrayed the spirit of the holiday by maintaining slavery. Frederick Douglass famously highlighted this hypocrisy in his 1852 speech, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" "I say it with a sad sense of disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us." For some Black Americans, the holiday is a reminder of the nation's shameful duplicity and broken promise of equality.
To understand what the Fourth of July means to Black women, consider their condition in this country. The vast majority can trace their lineage to the chattel slavery era, a period when they were stripped of rights afforded to White women…
