A Reflection on the Fourth of July

I’ve posted this same brief post for the past few yearsflag around this time, in hopes of drumming up a bit of discussion regarding this national holiday. About five years ago I was reading the paper in a small town in Minnesota. I read an article by Congressman Mark Kennedy entitled: “The Great Experiment” which discussed the sacrifices many soldiers had made to make this country what it is today.  I did not disagree with his article, I simply felt that he’d left some other important people and groups out. I felt the need to reply in this letter to the editor that you see below. I’ve left it unedited, but I’ll include further thoughts at the end. Surprisingly, the local paper published my letter the following week:

The Failing Experiment
I want to first of all thank Congressman Mark Kennedy for his article concerning this country’s “Independence Day.” There is certainly room for celebration and many of the historical facts he pointed out are worth noting and esteeming. Unfortunately I fear Congressman Kennedy missed out on the whole picture of the American Experiment and I feel the need to complete, or at least add to his summary.
It is true our Experiment has succeeded because of sacrifice, but whose sacrifice? Let us not forget the genocide of the Native Americans – from whom we took and still keep this land. They sacrificed many lives to our “Manifest Destiny.” Even today the effects of this sacrifice are felt and if you dare look, they are still seen. Our brothers and sisters of the human race live on small, infertile plots of land that we’ve forced them to, and the effects of injustice for hundreds of years can be seen clearly today. The Native Americans sacrificed.
Let us remember that the fourth of July is Independence for only part of the citizens of this country. It wasn’t until December 1865 that the denial of freedom (slavery) was abolished by law in this country. And we shouldn’t fool ourselves into thinking that this is a reality today. It takes only a brief look at the statistics to see that even since the Civil Rights movement of the sixties, we are still discriminating against people because of their skin (look up red-lining, the education system, and the demographic layout of most cities). It was on the backs of our brothers and sisters of the human race from Africa that this country began to thrive. It was their sacrifice for which they currently still have never reaped full benefits.
They sacrificed as soldiers too, Africans, Mexicans, Japanese, Native Americans – only to return to a “free” nation where they were discriminated against and treated as less than human. Remember the sacrifice of the American citizens of Japanese decent forced into Internment camps in the Desert. Remember the replacement of slaves with sharecropping and cheap labor from Mexico which we discriminate against yet desperately “need” in order to keep our way of living “affordable” for us.
There are many more groups that have been sacrificed to this American Experiment, but only one more I will note in this summary. They are half the population and for years have fed, clothed, cleaned, and cared for generations of American men. Women, they celebrate their independence on August 26, 1920 when the law at least extended to them the vote. They, like these many other groups, are still fighting for the freedom we will celebrate July 4th.
Celebrate your freedom on Sunday, but open your eyes to reality. Freedom even in America is only for the privileged, unless we choose to make it for everybody. Freedom will never come at the barrel of a gun. It will take sacrifice, sacrifice from you and me, not our lives, but our love. Will you sacrifice with love for that freedom you so enjoy to be extended to all people?

I hope, at the very least, that this at least reminds us to reflect somberly on this holiday. I don’t mean to belittle the decisions of so many soldiers who have risked their lives, but I also recognize that is not a complete picture of our history. Also, to those who are bothered by my dissent, let me also remind you that the fourth of July is a celebration of an act of treason, and in some sense (from a historically British perspective) a completely unpatriotic event. I’m not saying my critique is on par with the Declaration of Independence or anything, just that a nation founded on this type of act should keep an open ear to those who speak critically of it.

(For an interesting discussion, check out last years comment thread)

[photo credit]

16 thoughts on “A Reflection on the Fourth of July”

  1. Ariah,

    thanks for the thoughtful comments. This year I am going to start a tradition of reading Frederick Douglass' speech "What to the Slave is the 4th of July?" on the 4th of July.

    Tanden

  2. Thank you Ariah. I am honored that you are my friend. You have such a wonderful and gentle way of stating truth.

  3. When studying the American Revolution this year in my class, we read a book that presented the British perspective on everything. It was interesting to find out that King George did not want the colonies to expand beyond their original territories in order to respect the Native Americans and not further infringe on their territory. But the colonists defied the King's wishes and expanded anyway. You mentioned treason, and from the British perspective, many of the colonists's acts were considered acts of terrorism by the British government. From our perspective, we may call them justifiable acts, but I guess it depends on which side of the empire you are on. Being on this side of the current day American empire, we are completely against rebellious acts of terrorism. Perspective.

  4. Now that is really interesting!
    Mind giving me the names of the book you read? That's what I was thinking about as it related to the treason, but I hadn't thought of it as terrorism. Nor had I heard about King George not wanting to expand beyond the original territories.

    Perspective certainly is everything.

  5. Right on.

    I was thinking over that last weekend about the history of dissent in America. As commentators have mentioned, our independence was an act of defiance against awhat was perceived to be unjust and illegitimate tyranny. Since, the Boston Tea Party, however, protest and dissent have been censored and suppressed. Think the veterans' march on Washington after the Civil War to collect promised yet withheld pensions; the "red scare" of the Cold war; the sit-ins during the civil rights movement, J. Edgar Hoover's ruthless pursuit of dissidents, including John Lennon; and the heavy-handed treatment of peacful protestors alongside their more radical counterparts at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Among others, of course.

  6. I was thinking along similar lines when it comes to the ousting of Honduras' president. The US is condemning the act and saying the president must be returned to power…….or is this the Honduran Revolution? It is so hard as we have the outsider, global place of power vantage point, and think our way is the only way to do government well. I dont have personal opinions on it, just wonderings.

  7. Great points. It is interesting to look at history in a different light. I remember reading A People's History Of The United States and learning about a great number of things that had never even been mentioned in my schooling.
    Perspective is everything.

  8. I very much appreciate and agree with your premise that we should honor the sacrifices of those for whom freedom was and is denied within the United States. (I'd also say this extends to many of the residents in our prison system who often are deprived of their freedom despite presenting little to no harm to self or others).

    On the other hand, I'm not sure I agree with your title, that the American Experiment is failing. Certainly, we do not yet live up to our founding assertion that all men (sic) are created equal. But I think that the many hard fought victories that have been won over the years should allow for an "incomplete" rather than an F is we're grading ourselves on upholding freedoms.

    I also think that "freedom is only for the privileged" may be a bit strong. Yes, our society makes it extremely difficult to thrive if one comes from a minority or poverty background…but it is not impossible and there are many examples of people beating the odds. I'm not saying we should stop trying to open up opportunities, just saying that it could be much worse, and it is worth remembering that even as we push on our institutions to improve.

  9. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
    I think you might be right that “failing” is a bit harsh. I initially felt it was the strongest contrast I could make to “The Great Experiment” which was the article I was responding to. That might be why I titled the post “The Flawed Experiment” this time, though I left the original title intact.
    The line you thought a bit strong says: “Freedom even in America is only for the privileged, unless we choose to make it for everybody.” I don't think it's too strong as it's primarily a call or challenge, rather then a statement of only the way things are. Yes, there are examples of individuals beating the odds, but they're unique, that's why we call them “beating the odds.”

    Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! Hope you stick around and carry on the conversation elsewhere.

  10. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
    I think you might be right that “failing” is a bit harsh. I initially felt it was the strongest contrast I could make to “The Great Experiment” which was the article I was responding to. That might be why I titled the post “The Flawed Experiment” this time, though I left the original title intact.
    The line you thought a bit strong says: “Freedom even in America is only for the privileged, unless we choose to make it for everybody.” I don't think it's too strong as it's primarily a call or challenge, rather then a statement of only the way things are. Yes, there are examples of individuals beating the odds, but they're unique, that's why we call them “beating the odds.”

    Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! Hope you stick around and carry on the conversation elsewhere.

  11. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
    I think you might be right that “failing” is a bit harsh. I initially felt it was the strongest contrast I could make to “The Great Experiment” which was the article I was responding to. That might be why I titled the post “The Flawed Experiment” this time, though I left the original title intact.
    The line you thought a bit strong says: “Freedom even in America is only for the privileged, unless we choose to make it for everybody.” I don't think it's too strong as it's primarily a call or challenge, rather then a statement of only the way things are. Yes, there are examples of individuals beating the odds, but they're unique, that's why we call them “beating the odds.”

    Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! Hope you stick around and carry on the conversation elsewhere.

  12. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
    I think you might be right that “failing” is a bit harsh. I initially felt it was the strongest contrast I could make to “The Great Experiment” which was the article I was responding to. That might be why I titled the post “The Flawed Experiment” this time, though I left the original title intact.
    The line you thought a bit strong says: “Freedom even in America is only for the privileged, unless we choose to make it for everybody.” I don't think it's too strong as it's primarily a call or challenge, rather then a statement of only the way things are. Yes, there are examples of individuals beating the odds, but they're unique, that's why we call them “beating the odds.”

    Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! Hope you stick around and carry on the conversation elsewhere.

  13. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
    I think you might be right that “failing” is a bit harsh. I initially felt it was the strongest contrast I could make to “The Great Experiment” which was the article I was responding to. That might be why I titled the post “The Flawed Experiment” this time, though I left the original title intact.
    The line you thought a bit strong says: “Freedom even in America is only for the privileged, unless we choose to make it for everybody.” I don't think it's too strong as it's primarily a call or challenge, rather then a statement of only the way things are. Yes, there are examples of individuals beating the odds, but they're unique, that's why we call them “beating the odds.”

    Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! Hope you stick around and carry on the conversation elsewhere.

  14. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
    I think you might be right that “failing” is a bit harsh. I initially felt it was the strongest contrast I could make to “The Great Experiment” which was the article I was responding to. That might be why I titled the post “The Flawed Experiment” this time, though I left the original title intact.
    The line you thought a bit strong says: “Freedom even in America is only for the privileged, unless we choose to make it for everybody.” I don't think it's too strong as it's primarily a call or challenge, rather then a statement of only the way things are. Yes, there are examples of individuals beating the odds, but they're unique, that's why we call them “beating the odds.”

    Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! Hope you stick around and carry on the conversation elsewhere.

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