I Don’t Know How to Celebrate Independence Day This Year
None of us are free until we’re all free.
It’s so easy to celebrate a holiday like it’s a tradition, because it is. We’re accustomed to them.
We’ve been celebrating certain holidays for so long that the original meaning behind them is often misplaced. These holidays have turned into family events with their own meanings.
In some cases this is great. I celebrate a Thanksgiving and Christmas like holiday with my family every year because we’ve made them our own. We acknowledge the hate and despair that went into the creation of those holidays and we created our own instead.
The issue is, I’m not sure how to do that with the 4th of July anymore. I can’t justify making it my own when the U.S. is still experiencing extreme issues of racial injustice. I can’t make it my own when the hurt and despair that followed the creation of the holiday is still happening today.
Our country is not free until we are all free.
My issue with the 4th of July is the way it so heavily conflicts with my believed ethics and morals.
I feel as though by celebrating this holiday I’m turning my back on the lives of all of the many, many citizens of the U.S. who are not…
