WHAT TO THE SLAVE IS THE FOURTH OF JULY?

By Frederick Douglass

Extract from an Oration, at Rochester, July 5, 1852

Fellow-Citizens—Pardon me, and allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits, and express devout gratitude for the blessings, resulting from your independence to us?

But, such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! 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 of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day? . . .

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 jubilant 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 Fourth 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.

Read this line from the text:

What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence?

What does Douglass mean by the question in bold?

 He does not know the history of the holiday. 

 He wants to leave America for another citizenship.

 He wants to point out that many do not have freedom.

 He wants to share his feelings about the recent war. 

Learning Activity #1 – Theme 1

This week, students learn about organizational theory and the relationship to the role of 21st century manager. A manager is a person whose job it is to direct the implementation and achievement of a subset of organizational goals. Organizational theory is a field of study that has evolved in the last one hundred years to offer assistance to managers in the way they approach their job in an effort to accomplish the organization’s vision and mission. The 21st century manager is a person who organizes, executes, and plans the process and production of an organization. Traditionally, the role of the manager, as defined by organizational theory, has been the person who sets short term goals for the organization to execute and performs tasks that include the process, procedure, and production of the organization’s purpose or vision. The modern role of the manager still includes these tasks but has developed to include the role of facilitator in the way the manager accomplishes the organizational goals assigned to his or her control.

• With these ideas in mind, compare and contrast the role of management, as reflected by management theory, in the 20th century organization with the role of management in the 21st century. Include in your discussion the theoretical schools of thought(s) that speak to the manager’s role in the business environment as well as definition of the environment itself. • How has the change in business purpose (i.e. manufacturing vs. service) and the business environment, worker attitudes, and behaviors affected the role of the manager in an organization and how has the theory evolved to cope? Discuss in detail. Be sure to use information from the organizational theory timeline in your answer.

Learning Activity #2 – Theme 2

As we saw in theme one the role of the manager has changed from the 20th century to the 21st century, with the manager becoming more people-centric in the execution of their tasks.

• From this week’s material identify and discuss 5 skills that are unique to the successful manager of the 21st century. Consider in your answer workplace dynamics of new organizations such as the change in organizational structure (flat, horizontal, virtual etc.) and employee expectations for the workplace environment.

Don’t forget to include your in-text citations and references for each of your responses.  

Also, please make sure that you post your learning activities (LAs)  responses separately.