It’s the Fourth of July, Independence Day in America. It’s the day that we celebrate our independence from Britain way back in 1776, although that was only the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Congress. The actual signing by the men we now know as our founding fathers likely took place sometime later, and the American Revolutionary War didn’t end until 1783.
As a kid, I always felt the patriotic spirit on the 4th. It was fun to watch the local parade (I would later march in it as part of the band) and go to the local carnival to spend (read: waste) my allowance on stupid games for crummy plastic prizes. Then, it all culminated with fireworks on the night of the 4th itself. It was a blast.
Right now, I don’t feel quite the same way about it now. Not really even remotely close to the same awe and wonder that I felt back then, honestly. These days, I mostly feel sad.
I don’t feel the need to get too deep into political stuff here, but suffice to say that the election of 2016 has turned out to be one of, if not the most consequential presidential election of the past 100 years. It has shaped the Supreme Court for the worse, and the number of norms, laws, and freedoms that have been lost or eroded in the process will be devastating for generations to come.
The nation is divided against itself, and I worry that it will likely fall if nothing is done to reunite us under a common goal and flag. What it means to be an American is now up for debate, mostly on the political right, and the people I associate with fall under the “un-American’ category to them.
Speaking of flags, right now, people proudly flying American flags feel like they might as well be flying giant red flags. Lots of people also fly the Thin Blue Line flag, which just makes them look like fascist bootlickers to me, and I’ve never liked anyone who flies the Gadsden Flag.
Don’t even get me started on if you fly a Trump flag.
Meanwhile, anyone who flies a Pride flag feels safe to me, as even though I am not in the LGBTQIA+ community, most of my friends and the people I care about are. It makes me feel like you are a safe person to be around in that you aren’t constantly threatening to take away the rights of the people I care about.
Then there are the parades. What felt like garden-variety patriotism back in the day now feels like a nationalist march toward a theocratic dictatorship under Trump. I can’t bear to watch them anymore, and the thought of marching in one makes me feel sick.
It is not lost on me that mere days after Pride Month ends, we put away our rainbow gear and pull out our “America, Fuck Yeah” stuff.
The carnivals no longer feel safe either. We live in a country where anyone with a gun and a grudge can and will shoot up a mass gathering, so being in a crowded place no longer feels safe either. Add to that the number of people in my life who run the risk of a panic attack due to loud noises and crowds and it’s a recipe for avoiding it.
Finally, the fireworks don’t feel so grand either. They’re expensive displays of nationalism, often launched over the soundtrack of “Proud To Be An American,” a song that I loathe and avoid every year. It’s a sort of “with us or against us” anthem, and its hokeyness aside, its message has not aged well in recent years.
What’s more, I have made a number of veteran friends for whom the fireworks are a literal nightmare. For them, the rockets’ red glare and bombs bursting in air take them back to a bad time in their lives, and both the week leading up to the 4th and the week after are, at best, an exercise in self-control. At worst, it’s two weeks of nights of horrible sleep and demons crawling out of their closets.
I think that too many people live by an “America, right or wrong” and “America, love it or leave it” mentality, and that is to the detriment of us all.
For one, the full quote is “My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right,” attributed to Carl Schurz, who was amending another quote by Stephen Decatur.
As for the “love it or leave it” mentality, to that I say “no.”
Let me put it this way: if my house needs foundation repairs, as my house did a few years ago, I’m not going to say “well, that sucks, guess I’ll just abandon it and go somewhere else.” No, I’m going to fix the foundation, and then fix the damage that was caused by the crumbling foundation.
I’m not going to abandon my home at the first sign of damage, nor am I going to abandon it unless it becomes entirely unlivable. I’m going to do everything in my power to repair the damage and keep things right.
I will not stand by and blindly follow America on its march into the depths of hell because it’s my country. No, I will continue to use my power, however small it might be, to fight for an America that is good and just and equitable for all of us.
It’s Liberty and Justice for All. Not for some, not only for white men, ALL. And I will fight for that to the bitter end.
As we all should.
Be well out there.