July 4, 2018

Fourth of July has been my favorite holiday for decades.  Celebrating the birth of the United States has always been a joyous occasion.  But this year is different.  This year I find celebrating that day when, as President Lincoln said at Gettysburg, "our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal" a little difficult.  In 1986, this nation celebrated the Statue of Liberty's centennial.  Claire Cloninger wrote an additional stanza for the National Anthem for the re-dedication of the Statue of Liberty.  I think about her words "and the lantern of hope in harbor still shines, those who seek freedom's dream, to its light are still turning. . . . and this is our star-spangled banner unfurled as a sign to the free and a hope to the world" 

What happened to us in the thirty-two years since that July Fourth?  No, our country has never been perfect and to believe it ever was is foolish.  We have over come obstacles since this country declared independence, including surviving a civil war.  In the past when I reflected on July Fourth, I did so with pride at what we had overcome on our way to moving forward toward that "more perfect Union."  But as I have already written, this year is different.  Those who want to return our country to its fabled past glory days, which in fact were not filled with glory for everyone, are instead returning this country to its shameful days.     

How do I joyfully celebrate freedom and independence in a country whose current president and his administration have emboldened racism?  While racism has always a part of our country, it is once again very vocal and very visible.  Athletes who protest the inexplicable and indefensible loss of African American lives at the hands of police are vilified by the president of the United States.  White women have called the police on African Americans who were having a BBQ in a park, playing golf too slowly at a golf club, sleeping in the common area of a dormitory, sitting in a Starbucks waiting for a friend, selling water on the sidewalk and mowing the lawn.  Think about that for a moment on this day the United States celebrates freedom and independence.

How do I joyfully celebrate freedom and independence in a country whose current president and his administration separated children from parents and locked those children in cages? People fleeing with their children from life-threatening violence in their own countries are not met with welcome and comfort, but with separation and cages.  Parents and children separated from another because they were seeking asylum in the country that has the Lady in the Harbor whose torch burns day and night as reminder that all are welcome here.  Children were put in cages.  Think about that for a moment on this day the United States celebrates freedom and independence.