Derrick J. Jackson
ON PAST July Fourths, I often published alternative messages to protest the nation’s unfulfilled promises. One was from Frederick Douglass, who said in 1852 that the celebrations were a “sham’’ that betrayed the “gross injustice and cruelty’’ of slavery. He said “your shouts of liberty and equality’’ were “hollow mockery.’’ He said slavery was “coextensive with the star-spangled banner.’’
In 2009, America celebrates its first Fourth with an African-American president, representing a major step toward liberty and equality. Douglass once said, “This Fourth July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice. I must mourn.’’ In honor of the fact of this being the first such Fourth, where so many more Americans can rejoice that this is ours, I offer images of mine over the last two years of President Obama campaigning before the star-spangled banner.
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