Mike Drop: Are you proud to be American?
I am American. I used to be proud of my country. Today, I’m a little embarrassed. The Trumpers and Christian nationalists are not just insanely ignorant, they’re also obnoxiously loud about it. My international audience continues to lambast me or console me on behalf of what they see about America in the media. This country was built on stolen land and slave labor. There is a whole chunk of our population that not only refuses to make amends but insists that we shouldn’t teach future generations what we did.
We’ve seen in history that groups who want to ban knowledge are almost always oppressor groups.
This week is the Fourth of July, a day that has traditionally been one of fireworks, hot dogs and patriotism. I was taught from a young age to be thankful I was born in America, that I lived in the land of the free. I was taught that America represented equality, that we were a people for liberty and justice for all. As I grew up and learned to advocate for myself in the midst of oppressive ideology, I’ve come to realize that there is a whole chunk of America that does not believe in these ideas.
Right wing conservatives have turned words like “America” and “freedom” into trigger warnings. They say “America” but what they mean is white supremacy. They say “freedom” but they mean entitlement to bigotry. These are the same people who claim that in June “pride” is a sin, but in July it’s a national priority and deny that Juneteenth should be celebrated.
Independence Day is a mixed bag for me. What do you do when you discover that your forefathers were colonizers, slave owners, oppressors and abusers? How do you celebrate that? If we as a nation could collectively agree that we were born out of atrocity and are committed to doing better moving forward, we could celebrate the hell out of this day. I think the problem for me is that celebration without genuine remorse feels disingenuous.
We have so much work to do. We have wounds to heal. We have amends to make. This Fourth of July, I am choosing to embrace hope that America does not belong to white supremacy. I have hope that the American flag does not represent privilege for the elite. I have hope that the majority of us genuinely believe that people, no matter their skin color, gender, sexual orientation or economic status, are equal and deserving of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I have hope that we are intelligent and mature enough to acknowledge that a dominating minority class doesn’t get to dictate what “happiness” means for everyone else.
Happy Independence Day! Here’s to doing better.
Mike
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