JULY’ 20

4

I confess that I have never before subjected this holiday to much scrutiny. As a child, it was a day for BBQs, running around with my sibs and cousins, and staying up late to see the fireworks. As an adult, I took the holiday for granted just as uncritically.

But, this year is different. How could it be otherwise? The families of #breonnataylor #elijahmcclain #georgefloyd and countless other Black families are still waiting for justice, still waiting to be respected and valued as human beings, still asking that our country honor its promise of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" for all of its citizens. Meanwhile, Black Lives Matter protestors who are taking direct action, speaking truth to power, are being murdered, assaulted, and jailed.

So, for the first time this year, I am giving today's holiday some real thought. What do the ideals of this country, enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, mean when its authors, co-signers, defenders, supporters were also genocidal slavers, murderers, rapists, and thieves? How has and does this double-consciousness manifest itself in our country's history and in our current predicaments? 

Thanks to the work of so many Black writers, thinkers, scholars, artists, activists, etc., I can now better appreciate the sanctimony of our "Founding Fathers" and our national myth. The bloody birth of this country (how could a colonial enterprise be otherwise?) is inextricably entwined with exploitation, the accumulation of wealth for a few at the expense of the many. If there is anything remarkable about our country, it was always in those moments when the people came together to hold those in power and wealth accountable. In sweat, tears, and blood, true patriots have managed to hold a mirror to the powerful and wealthy to reveal the barbarism that surely must always underlie the accumulation of immense power and wealth and, in doing so, pricked enough consciences to create change. 

This past weekend, we asked our older family and friends where they were and what they were doing in the 1960s. We wanted to know how much they knew about the events that we now describe as the "Civil Rights Era" and whether they were involved in it. I came away from those conversations with this conviction: When it is my daughter's turn to ask me those questions, I want to be able to give her an answer that I can be proud of.