"What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" is a speech given by Frederick Douglass on July 5, 1852, in which he criticizes the hypocrisy of celebrating American independence while continuing to enslave millions of African Americans. Douglass argues that the Fourth of July is not a time for celebration for African Americans, but a time for mourning and reflection on the continued injustices they face.
Douglass wants his audience to understand the inherent brutality of slavery and the devastating impact that it has had on the lives of African Americans. He uses vivid language and powerful metaphors to convey this message:
"Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common.-The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn."
Through his use of rhetorical questions, repetition, and emotive language, Douglass effectively communicates the cruelty and injustice of slavery.
Similarly, Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston sheds light on the brutality of slavery by telling the story of Cudjo Lewis, one of the last surviving slaves brought to the United States from Africa on a slave ship. The book offers a firsthand account of the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade and the dehumanizing effects of slavery on African people.
Hurston wants her audience to understand the inhumanity of slavery and the damage it has done to African culture and identity. She uses Cudjo Lewis's own words to convey this message, allowing him to tell his story in his own voice:
"Den we all cry, den we pile up de bodies in de water. We doan know nothin' 'bout de worl' den. We doan know what it mean. Den we see de ship. God, we t'ink dey be come kill us. We fight, but dey whip us, and make us lie down in de bottom de 'provision' and dey pack us in dere lak sardines in a can, jus' so."
Through her use of Cudjo Lewis's personal narrative, Hurston offers a powerful commentary on the inhumanity of slavery and the ongoing legacy of its brutality.