4th of July

Is America Still Worth Celebrating?

It’s complicated…

Image of Fireworks courtesy of Wikimedia Commons; Image of flag by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels

The 4th of July used to be my favorite night of the year. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., I was lucky enough to have the National Mall and its annual fireworks extravaganza a mere 20-minute Metro ride away.

I have clear memories of watching, transfixed, from atop my father’s shoulders as the sky above the monuments exploded into every hew. The show was always spectacular, but even more exhilarating were the feelings. Something about being one of hundreds of thousands of people from all around the world sharing the majesty and magic of our annual showcase was inspiring. In those moments, how could you not believe in the country, its future, and the possibility embodied by that crowd?

I will not be attending the fireworks this year. I had planned to go. Having steered clear the last couple of years because of COVID, and before that, Trump, I was looking forward to it as a return to something approximating normalcy.

I’m just not feeling it anymore. In light of the recent string of Supreme Court decisions robbing Americans of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness one theocratically fascist screed at a time, ongoing revelations of the vastness and depravity of the January 6th coup attempt and the refusal of one of our two major…