In Rochester, New York, over the weekend, vandals removed a statue of the famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass from its base.

The people who are committing these crimes don't know the slightest thing about American history.


The statue, which stood in Maplewood Park, was vandalized on the 168th anniversary of Douglass' famous Independence Day speech, in which he called for the abolition of slavery. The culprits responsible for tearing down the statue are, as yet, unknown, as are their motives. But the incident has propelled Frederick Douglass into the national spotlight and brought renewed attention to what was, at his time, a quite controversial message.


On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered his immortal address, “What, to the Slave, is the Fourth of July?” to the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society. The occasion was a celebration of Independence Day, but Douglass also used his platform to give one of the most compelling orations against slavery ever witnessed. In this, one of the most memorable political speeches in U.S. history, Douglass captured the heart of the American ideal of freedom with eloquence and potency scarcely paralleled in the Gettysburg Address. Douglass combined an indelible respect for the nation's founding fathers with an unyielding passion for justice in a manner that could be instructive for many today.

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland in 1818. Throughout his childhood and teenage years, he served several masters, one of whom beat him regularly. When he was 20 years old, he escaped to the free north by train and began a new life, which he dedicated to the abolitionist cause. If anyone ever had a right to feel bitter about his country, it was Frederick Douglass. But he did not let the evils he suffered blind him to all the good that the American system had made possible. He was certainly angry, and rightfully so, but never resentful.

As I understand it -- and my understanding is, as always, subject to review by the Party -- the subject of the statue does not matter, nor does the provenance of the statue. What matters, and what is so objectionable, is the statue-ness of the statue. It exists. It has a past. It is an artifact of pre-Next-Tuesday, something that the Deplorable Ones have created. And thus it must be destroyed.

Is this not so, comrades?

Comrade kitty, it depends on the situation, and Current Truth ™ We have never/always been at war with Eurasia (you choose).

If there were statues of freaking Hello Kitty they would topple those too, and they would have a rationalization for it. They are psychotic.

The Left has entered the dangerously psychotic stage of totalitarianism.

I love Useful Idiots™, please continue to perpetuate the need for your execution over deep ditches and in gulags. This is History comrades, TRUE history! And you are making it happen again! Carry ON!

Since 1976, four decades plus, every year in February, all month long, public schools study, learn and celebrate the accomplishments of black Americans. Why? Ripping down Frederick Douglass is a major sign that it was all a waste of time.

$.$. Halliburton wrote:If there were statues of freaking [highlight=#ffff00]Hello Kitty[/highlight] they would topple those too, and they would have a rationalization for it. ...

Hello Kitty alias Kitty White, so...

RedDiaperette wrote:... the subject of the statue does not matter, nor does the provenance of the statue. What matters, and what is so objectionable, is the statue-ness of the statue. It exists. It has a past. It is an artifact of pre-Next-Tuesday ...

Brilliant, Komradette. Simply brilliant. Statue-ness. That's it, that's it!

Clara Illbustyourballs Zetkin wrote:Since 1976, four decades plus, every year in February, all month long, public schools study, learn and celebrate the accomplishments of black Americans. Why? Ripping down Frederick Douglass is a major sign that it was all a waste of time. ...

Dear Komradette CIZ, it can't be the "public schools" thing, no no. Those FD-statue-rippers are for sure under the wings of utmost-high-level edukayshun.

Frederick Douglass (spit) was only acting on behalf of white supremacist rethuhlikkklans who thought blacks could make it on their own without compassionate democrats Taking care of their every need.

Comrade Jenkem wrote:... white supremacist rethuhlikkklans who thought blacks could make it on their own ...

They not only "thought", they pounced on that!

[Star Trek: The Return of the Archons]

Escaping the confusion:
Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York, gaining note for his oratory and incisive antislavery writings.

You see.. it makes no difference to be a laureate comrades! This I why I don't bother books or writing anymore. It's useless when the people can't read!

Unfortunately I just wrote this!

Just asking, for a friend...