Ted Cruz Debunks Colin Kaepernick’s Out of Context Frederick Douglass Quote

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) set the record straight Thursday after former NFL quarterback and national anthem protester Colin Kaepernick posted an out of context Frederick Douglass quote on Twitter for Independence Day.

On Independence Day, Kaepernick posted a video accompanying the following Frederick Douglass quote:

What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? This Fourth of July is yours, not mine…There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour.

“What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? This Fourth of July is yours, not mine…There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour.”
– Frederick Douglass pic.twitter.com/IWLujGCJHn

— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) July 4, 2019

However, context is key. As Cruz pointed out, Douglass hated and opposed slavery, but that did not mean he hated and opposed America. Quite the contrary:

You quote a mighty and historic speech by the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass, but, without context, many modern readers will misunderstand. Two critical points: https://t.co/x4oLfa9DrH

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 5, 2019

(1) This speech was given in 1852, before the Civil War, when the abomination of slavery still existed. Thanks to Douglass and so many other heroes, we ended that grotesque evil and have made enormous strides to protecting the civil rights of everybody.

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 5, 2019

(2) Douglass was not anti-American; he was, rightly and passionately, anti-slavery. Indeed, he concluded the speech as follows:

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 5, 2019

“Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented, of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country.

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 5, 2019

“There are forces in operation, which must inevitably, work the downfall of slavery. ‘The arm of the Lord is not shortened,’ and the doom of slavery is certain.

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 5, 2019

“I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing encouragement from ‘the Declaration of Independence,’ the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age.”

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 5, 2019

Cruz encouraged people to read the entire speech:

Let me encourage everyone, READ THE ENTIRE SPEECH; it is powerful, inspirational, and historically important in bending the arc of history towards justice: https://t.co/il9WNrmxho

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 5, 2019

As Breitbart News reported, Douglass even referred to the Constitution as a “glorious liberty document.”

“Read its preamble, consider its purposes. Is slavery among them? Is it at the gateway? or is it in the temple? it is neither,” he said.

He continued:

While I do not intend to argue this question on the present occasion, let me ask, if it be not somewhat singular that, if the Constitution were intended to be, by its framers and adopters, a slave-holding instrument, why neither slavery, slaveholding, nor slave can anywhere be found in it.

It should be abundantly clear to the reader that Douglass opposed slavery but had hope that America – of all countries – could right the wrong. His hope was not misplaced.