In New York, a monument was thrown to a black fighter against slavery: they cannot find the culprit

In the state of New York, a monument to the fighter for the liberation of black slaves, Frederick Douglas, a symbol of freedom in America, was tumbled down. Who did this remains a mystery. This publication writes Air force.

An act of vandalism occurred in Rochester, New York. There, the statue of Frederick Douglas, who lived in the 15th century, installed in the park, was knocked down from a pedestal, dragged off by about XNUMX meters and left on the riverbank. This is stated in a statement by the local police.

US President Donald Trump on Monday, July 6, called the people involved in this incident "anarchists who do not know the coast." He also posted on his page in Twitter a link to news material from the alternative to the right Breitbart News website.

Activists of the anti-racism movement suggest that this act of vandalism may be retaliation for the monuments dropped by participants in anti-racist protests.

Rochester police are investigating; no suspects have been found so far. No one took responsibility for the incident.

It is encouraging that the fallen statue is made of plastic. It is a copy of the bronze monument to Douglas, standing in Rochester since 1899. In 2018, as part of the celebration of the 200th anniversary of Douglas, the city decided to install 12 more copies of it, one of them was also soon attacked by vandals.

Therefore, there is a supply of Douglas statues in Rochester, and replacing the sculpture will not be difficult, said Carvey Eason, author of the project to perpetuate the memory of the abolitionist.

On the subject: Symbol of racial discrimination: monument to Theodore Roosevelt will be demolished in New York

Recall that mass protests swept America after the death at the hands of a white African American policeman George Floyd. The man gasped as the officer pressed his neck with his knee to the ground for almost 9 minutes. The protests that followed were often accompanied by the spontaneous demolition of monuments associated with European colonialism or slavery. Local authorities agreed to dismantle a number of sculptures of past figures associated with the idea of ​​white superiority. Among the monuments are sculptures of soldiers and generals of the Confederate army who fought to preserve the institution of slavery in America during the Civil War of 1861-65, as well as European discoverers, in particular Christopher Columbus.

It is worth noting that the figure of Frederick Douglas could not be chosen as a target by chance. Recently, Democrats in the US House of Representatives voted to name his state, which is proposed to form on the site of the current federal capital of Washington (it is not part of any state).

The bill provides not only for the recognition of the District of Columbia as the 51st state of the United States, but also for its renaming as "Commonwealth of Washington, Douglas" - in honor of the first US President George Washington and Frederick Douglas.

Sunday, July 5th, was the anniversary of his famous 1852 speech in which he asked, "For an American slave, what is your Fourth of July?" "The day that reveals to him is greater than all the other days of the year, the great injustice and cruelty of which he constantly falls," Douglas answered himself.

Who is Frederick Douglas

Frederick Douglass is an American writer, enlightener, abolitionist, editor and speaker. One of the most famous fighters for the rights of the black population of America.

Escaped from slavery, Douglas became the leader of the abolitionist movement. With outstanding oratorical skills and the ability to express his thoughts in writing, Douglas launched an extensive anti-slavery campaign.

In particular, he was one of the main participants in the "underground railroad" - a network for the export of escaped slaves to states where slavery was prohibited, or to Canada. From 1847 to 1872 he lived in Rochester, where he also set up one of the transshipment points of the "railroad".

It was a lively response to the arguments of slave owners who claimed that slaves lacked intelligence to become independent American citizens. Many residents of the northern US states could not even believe that such a great speaker as Frederick was a slave.

Douglas wrote several memoirs. In his autobiography, The Tale of the Life of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave (1845), he eloquently described his slave everyday life. The book became a bestseller and an influential work in support of the abolition of slavery, however, like his other writing work, “My Slavery, My Freedom” (1855). After the Civil War, Douglas remained an active fighter against slavery and wrote his latest autobiography, The Life and Age of Frederick Douglas. He also supported women's suffrage.