The context of the article outlines the hypocrisy of today's intent when clearly all are not truly allowed within the realm of independence. Below is a synopsis of Douglass speak in the context of being asked to speak during a 4 July celebration. Sure some would say this is not the case today, but in the context of recent events and mounting disparity, one has to ask, is it denial that being of African decent you'll never be accepted by America until fully assimilated.
What, am I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to rob them of their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow men, to beat them with sticks, to flay their flesh with the lash, to load their limbs with irons, to hunt them with dogs, to sell them at auction, to sunder their families, to knock out their teeth, to burn their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to their masters? Must I argue that a system thus marked with blood, and stained with pollution, is wrong? ...
At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. O! had I the ability, and could I reach the nation’s ear, I would, to-day, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. - SlateAfrocatioN ™ Knowledge Is Key ®
