The Fourth of July, also known as Independence Day or July 4th, has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1941. But the tradition of Independence Day celebrations goes back to the 18th century and the American Revolution.
On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, and two days later delegates from the 13 colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence, that historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson. The historic document that is being laid waste to by the current Supreme Court and those who have stacked the court with anti-Jefferson “patriots.”
From 1776 to 2021, July 4 has been celebrated as the birth of American independence, with festivities, pandemic aside, ranging from fireworks, parades and concerts to more casual family gatherings and barbecues. This year’s celebration was marked by the 309th mass shooting in the U.S. so far this year at a Fourth of July parade bloodbath in the affluent Chicago suburb of Highland Park. Another “celebration” of the bastardization of the Second Amendment by the NRA and its gun industry funders.
A Recorder editorial on July 4 gave us the words by Frederick Douglas in a sermon on July 5, 1852 in which he said “I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July!”
Amen. Amen. The present and future course of this nation has never looked blacker to me. And, I believe, for many others. Many, many others.
Douglas also said that same year to a large, mostly white crowd on July 5 in my childhood home of Rochester, New York, that “I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! This Fourth [of] July is yours not mine.”
I have found the Recorder’s opinion page an increasingly vital source of cogent and compassionate commentary about the corrosive cancers that have grown in the body politic. In Dan Brown’s July 4 column about America’s “medieval patriarchy” he wrote “Hate is a slippery slope. It first targets a minority but like cancer, grow and spreads. The Supreme Court has spread that cancer further. The question is how far it will go before it poisons us all.”
On the same page on the same day, Dan Manka’s brilliant My Turn column writes about the death of America’s only living World War II Medal of Honor recipient. He chronicles the true heroism of his friend Woody Williams on the island of Iwo Jima where 6,000 other marines lost their lives in America’s last legitimate war.
The next day on the opinion page, columnist Patricia Hynes echoes Dan Brown’s theme of “medieval patriarchy” by quoting Buddhist teacher Lama Rod Owens who said; “Like white people challenging whiteness, it is men who must do the work of understanding that a significant portion of our identity is based on a toxic, patriarchal masculinity.”
On the same page on the same day William Lambers describes the transition of Gettysburg from “the site of the most horrific of Civil War battles with more than 51,000 casualties” in 1863 into “a monument for peace.”
The next day, this past Wednesday, Judy Walker, in her “Summer of Discontent” My Turn column, describes the “careful, deliberate, meticulous way the [Jan. 6] committee is handling the explosive testimony they have assembled. No smirking, sneering, finger pointing; only respectful appreciation for the Americans who have chosen to tell the truth, and nothing but the truth, so help them God.”
On the same page on the same day, in regular column, Bill Newman tells us what “the death of democracy feels like.” He notes that while [Cassidy] Hutchinson’s courage in speaking out, although uplifting, is also notable — and depressing — for its singularity. Where are the other 99.9% of Republicans other than Liz Cheney? Why are they complacent about, or quietly supportive of, the attempted coup d’etat?” Newman left U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger off his short list of American Republicans but his point is not lost.
“We should take no solace in bromides about the resiliency of our political system,” Newman writes. “The country is in deep trouble. Trumpism could well prevail in 2022 and 2024. If it does there will be no Supreme Court to save us and no Congress to intervene. Protests will be tolerated only to a point, and we will be left with the finality of mourning the death of liberty and democracy.”
Where is the soul of America?
“Connecting the Dots” is published every other Saturday in the Recorder. John Bos is a contributing writer for Green Energy Times. His essays have appeared in The Republican, Brattleboro Reformer, Montague Reporter, Worcester Telegram and other regional newspapers. Questions and commentary are invited at john01370@gmail.com.