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| Frederick Douglass |
Freedom,
Truth and Cancel Culture
reflections
by Rev. Troy B. Cady
July 4,
2020
I recall just
now the sense of wonder, hope and joy that welled up within me on the 4th
of July when I was a child. Every year, I looked forward to this day. Though we
didn’t have a lot of money, we always managed to buy fireworks and we enjoyed
plenty of food, treats and sugary drinks like Kool Aid, lemonade, and soda. I
remember sitting near Silver Lake, anticipating the start of the big fireworks
show as night fell.
As I aged, I
remember always feeling intrigued by stories and figures of our nation’s
founding: from the arrival of pilgrims at Plymouth Rock in 1620 to the
revolution led by George Washington about 150 years later. I imagined myself as
a witness to historic moments like the Boston Tea Party and the battle at Valley
Forge. I revered figures like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. Such
brilliance they possessed! The words of the Declaration of Independence gripped
my imagination: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is
no exaggeration to say those words still inspire me today.
I remember
longing to see the Capitol building, the White House, the Washington Monument
and the Lincoln Memorial in my tween years. In 1985, at the age of fifteen, that
dream was fulfilled when I had the chance to participate in a youth conference
that took place in Washington, D.C. Later in high school, I remember being
awestruck at the sight of Mount Rushmore, where four of America’s great
Presidents are etched in stone, larger than life.
Yesterday
(July 3, 2020) President Trump stood in front of Mount Rushmore to deliver remarks
that address a growing movement among American citizens calling for the removal of
monuments which memorialize figures in our nation’s history who have committed
dishonorable acts of sobering significance. Among such monuments are those that
memorialize leaders of the former Confederacy or utilize symbols of the
Confederacy (such as the Confederate flag itself).
But it has
also been noted that, if those monuments are removed, why should monuments to
people like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson be left standing? After all,
it is a well-known fact that both Washington and Jefferson were slave owners,
as were many prominent figures during this part of U.S. history.
“Where will
it end?” many wonder.
The movement calling
for the removal of these monuments, it is said, is part of a much larger agenda
that has been labelled as “cancel culture.” The label aims to portray people
who are calling for the removal of such monuments as people who want to obliterate
our sense of historic identity (so as to “cancel” our culture—our cherished way
of life—altogether). The fear is that, in removing monuments such as these, we
will, in effect, be taking a big eraser to history, getting rid of the memory
of those who have shaped us and made us who we are today.
To many, it
simply does not seem right to dishonor those who have gone before us by
removing monuments that help us remember them. For this reason, the President
announced last night that he is planning to build a National Garden of American
Heroes. It will be “a vast outdoor park that will feature the statues of the
greatest Americans to ever live.”[1]
Beyond Nostalgia
I must confess: July 4th just doesn’t seem like the
July 4th of my childhood anymore. As a middle-aged white, male
Christian pastor (with a wife, two kids and a dog), there is much in me that
would love to just relive the nostalgia of my youth.
And, I must
confess: as I watched the President’s speech last night I could picture a
former me among the crowd in front of Mount Rushmore, swelling with pride,
relishing every word, including the songs and speeches that were given by
others.
But over the
years, something has changed in me. I still stand by this continued experiment
we call America, but as I have gone deeper in my relationship with Christ, I
have also identified the ways in which my faith causes me to do more than just
affirm “the American way.” On the contrary, it has helped me to see that the
way of Christ often challenges the American way by calling us to a better way,
a higher way.
So, as much
as I would like to perpetuate my own sense of nostalgia, my faith in Christ
calls me to something greater (which is, in fact, something to which our
country itself aspires). It is this:
There is no
higher expression of freedom than to use one’s own freedom to liberate the
oppressed and come to the aid of the downtrodden. But it takes incredible
courage to speak out against the abuse of freedom, for such words will not be
welcomed by those in power.
Frederick Douglass and True Freedom
About nine years before the start of the Civil War, Frederick
Douglass did just that: he used his freedom to speak truth to those who were
abusing their freedoms by perpetuating the institution of slavery.
Here is what
he said on July 5, 1852:
“Fellow-citizens; above your
national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose chains,
heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the
jubilee shouts that reach them. If I do forget, if I do not faithfully remember
those bleeding children of sorrow this day, ‘may my right hand forget her
cunning, and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth!’ To forget them, to
pass lightly over their wrongs, and to chime in with the popular theme, would
be treason most scandalous and shocking, and would make me a reproach before
God and the world.
My subject, then fellow-citizens,
is AMERICAN SLAVERY. I shall see, this day, and its popular characteristics,
from the slave’s point of view.
Standing, there, identified with
the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, I do not hesitate to declare,
with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked
blacker to me than on this 4th of July! Whether we turn to the declarations of
the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems
equally hideous and revolting.
America is false to the past,
false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future.
Standing with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will,
in the name of humanity which is outraged, in the name of liberty which is
fettered, in the name of the constitution and the Bible, which are disregarded
and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the
emphasis I can command, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery — the
great sin and shame of America! ‘I will not equivocate; I will not excuse;’ I
will use the severest language I can command; and yet not one word shall escape
me that any man, whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice, or who is not at
heart a slaveholder, shall not confess to be right and just.
“But I fancy I hear some one of
my audience say, it is just in this circumstance that you and your brother
abolitionists fail to make a favorable impression on the public mind. Would you
argue more, and denounce less, would you persuade more, and rebuke less, your
cause would be much more likely to succeed. But, I submit, where all is plain
there is nothing to be argued.”[2]
I would like
to suggest to all of us that these words are just as needed today as they were
over a century and a half ago. Here we have an example of the true sacrifice
that freedom requires. It is to lay one’s reputation, one’s livelihood, and one’s
very life on the line for the sake of others who have been denied freedom in
all its fullness.
Freedom and Truth-telling
In Mr. Douglass’ speech we have a true model and inspiration
as he shows us that those who are truly free are unafraid to face the truth.
And the truth is: we have been granted freedoms we do not deserve.
I ask: who is
the greater patriot? The one who glosses over the truth so we can remain
comfortable in our half-truths? Or the one who speaks the whole truth by boldly
challenging us to rise to our highest ideals even while calling us to confess our
gravest sins?
It has been
said that racial oppression is America’s original sin. It is a sin, I am
convinced, we have not fully faced because it is the kind of sin that those in
power have the luxury of ignoring (myself included).
In light of
this, I invite you to thoughtfully read the transcript of President Trump’s
speech that he delivered last night in front of Mount Rushmore (it’s linked in
the endnotes below). In his speech, he tells the story of great moments and
figures in our nation’s history—but he leaves out those parts of the story that
many are trying to bring to light.
It is the
suppression of this fuller story—the suppression of the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth—that keeps us from being truly free.
This is
ironic, however, because in his speech the President addresses a concern many
people have about the “cancel culture.”
I, too, share
the concern that we take pains not to omit important aspects of our nation’s
story. So, I have to ask: “Just who is
trying to ‘cancel’ and ‘erase’ key aspects of our history?” Might it be
possible that both “sides” are doing just that?
A case in
point: last night what we witnessed was a speech by the leader of our country
in which he used a giant eraser to edit out key aspects which are inextricably
woven into the very fabric of the story he told (a nice, nostalgic story).
Towards a Fuller Story
What we need is to face the truth with an honest assessment,
neither demonizing nor canonizing…but humanizing. This requires humility and a
determination to put right the wrongs we have committed.
The truth is:
Thomas Jefferson was a human. True: he was brilliant; we owe our country’s very
existence to his brilliance. In his speech, Douglass even refers to this:
“The signers of the Declaration
of Independence were brave men. They were great men too — great enough to give
fame to a great age. It does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one
time, such a number of truly great men. The point from which I am compelled to
view them is not, certainly, the most favorable; and yet I cannot contemplate
their great deeds with less than admiration. They were statesmen, patriots and
heroes, and for the good they did, and the principles they contended for, I
will unite with you to honor their memory.”
But, that is
only one side of the story. The hard reality we must face is that Thomas Jefferson
was also a slave owner who raped one of those he enslaved when she was just a
teenager. To fail to tell both sides of the story is to “cancel” the part of
the story that is left out.
And, yes: the
Louisiana Purchase, along with our subsequent expansion into the West, served
to advance commerce and build the nation’s economy. But this expansion also
displaced Native Americans, robbing them of their homes and livelihood. We occupy
land that was not ours; we enjoy freedoms we do not deserve.
Manifest Destiny and the Spirit of Christ
On this 4th of July it should trouble us that last
night President Trump invoked the doctrine of Manifest Destiny to justify his account
of history. As Franklin Douglass modeled for us more than 150 years ago, we
need to ask, “Just whose destiny are we talking about here? Was God’s favor
manifest for the Africans who were taken from their homes and enslaved for two
and a half centuries? Did the Native Americans, whose population was decimated
by a biological attack when the Europeans arrived, enjoy God’s freedom? Whose
destiny are we talking about?”
It is a
desecration to the ideal of freedom to ignore the truth so we can continue to
enjoy a comfortable existence. And, as a pastor, I must say: it is blasphemous
to invoke Christianity in service to this agenda.
When
Frederick Douglass said he would view July 4th from the slave’s
point of view, he was truly exhibiting the spirit of Christ, for Jesus himself
did likewise: he sided with the oppressed. He who enjoyed all the powers of
divinity…divested himself of power, humbled himself, and became a servant with
no rights whatsoever. He did this freely because of love. And there is no
greater freedom than that.
And he who
freely loved like that reminds us that it is the truth which will set us free.
We cannot be free if we fail to face the truth. This is not about demonizing
and it is not about canonizing. It is about humanizing.
This may be
the hardest thing we will ever have to do, but it is absolutely essential that
we do it. It will mean the relinquishment of control, letting go of power,
being willing to honestly assess the shortfalls of the version of history we
prefer. But only as we do so will we be healed from the wounds of the sin of
racism.
I know that
what I have written is not popular, and it violates any sense of nostalgia on
this important day, but this is my call to freedom on this 4th of
July, 2020.
[1] See
the transcript of his speech here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-south-dakotas-2020-mount-rushmore-fireworks-celebration-keystone-south-dakota/
[2]
You can read his full speech here: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july/
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