Statue of Abolitionist Frederick Douglass Vandalized

American orator, editor, author, abolitionist, and former slave Frederick Douglass (1818 - 1895) edits a journal at his desk in the late 1870s. Hulton Archive/Getty Images

A statue of black abolitionist Frederick Douglass was toppled in Rochester, New York, during the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

The act of vandalism occurred on the 168th anniversary of Douglass’s speech titled “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July,” which was delivered in Rochester.