4th of July – 2018

Not everyone who lived in the colonies when the United States declared its independence wanted to be free of the British. The founders did not agree on important issues related to economics, freedoms, and other important issues like slavery. Americans fought each other during the Civil War, and people continued to fight each other. Every single step our country has made to become more free, equitable, and more just has been a battle.

Women had to fight for the right to vote, and continue had to fight for the right to be treated as equal citizens. It seemed like when I was a kid growing up in the 1980s it seemed that this war was done. However, I’ve come to understand as an adult that there are still battles to be fought, minds to change, hearts to win over, and people, who fear change, to leave behind in the dust.

It is human nature to not want things to change, to fear what is different, and to feel that bringing in others, compromises the strength at the core of our society. It is these fears, that people have manipulated for person gain, and exploited to maintain a status quo that discriminatory, and damaging to our national character, and American identity.

It was independence day on Wednesday, a day when we are suppose eat hot dogs, drink light beer, watch parades and feel proud to be an American. While I’ve always carried shame with me about America’s past and current sins, I haven’t felt more ashamed about the actions of our government than I have in the almost two years. There may some who find this statement unpatriotic, but I would argue that shame of our country, reality is essential to patriotism, and the progress of our country.

We feel shame when we feel responsibility. We don’t feel shame when other people do bad things, we feel shame when we mess up, when someone who love makes a mistake. I feel shame about choices Americans have made, and choices this current administration has made, because I feel a responsibility as a citizen for the country I call home.

To truly understand American history is to know that conflicts between different ideas has always existed in our country. There was never some magical time when everyone in this country agreed on the best path forward. What’s different now is that there is not even lip service coming from the 45th that we are working with this tension, finding common concerns and fears to build bridges. Instead, he continues to use divisive language in an effort to strengthen his base.

We are country of conflict, of tension. It was in our founding, and it’s never left us. Maybe the reason that we are like this as a country is because we value our independence so much. We put so much stock in the fact that we separated from the United Kingdom, as if they were the most evil empire that every existed. Like the young adult who becomes independent of their parents, America made many of the same mistakes of the United Kingdom, and some wrought with far more degrees of damage. Maybe, we are putting too much stock in the idea of independence.  Because now more than ever, we are interconnected, and we are dependent on each other to create a society that is more free and more just.