"South Carolina Partners with PragerU" (Updates)

Yesterday I reshared a piece about Frederick Douglass’ speech, “What, to the Slave, is the Fourth of July?” I would love for every American to read that speech at some point.

One reason the speech took on additional relevance this year is South Carolina Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver’s unique public relationship to Douglass’ words, which seems to mirror the way some rightwing political groups have appropriated Douglass’ out-of-context remarks to make points he almost certainly wouldn’t have supported (see also: the yearly trotting out of a few lines from King’s “I Have a Dream” speech).

Weaver quoted Douglass’ Narrative at length in remarks chastising state librarians for opposing censorship (without addressing the irony that Douglass obtained his freedom in part by breaking state law by accessing reading materials forbidden to enslaved people). And one of the materials she highlighted in the PragerU collaboration features an ahistorical cartoon Frederick Douglass making po…