4th of July hardly liberated the population. It liberated about 15%, or less of the population. Slaves weren't liberated. Women weren't liberated. The poor weren't liberated. Gay people weren't liberated. Any of those people could be arrested for fulfilling their human rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Yet we still wave around red, white, and blue flags. We still scream "God bless America!" even when people are getting gassed for saying they shouldn't be murdered. We still say that people making change are radical, we still ignore that our president is using NAZI imagery.
Yeah, riotings radical. We tried asking. We tried reforming the police. You called that radical. So now we're done with it. When our black brothers and sisters are getting killed for simply existing, and no one says anything, we snap. If you're angry when a target burns down but not when black people are murdered for being black, you're part of the problem.

As a black person, I don't appreciate the riots. At all.

Firstly, most of the people out there aren't even there because they truly support the black community. They're just out there for the brownie points.

Secondly, all those stores getting burned down? Guess who depends on them more than the whites? BLACK PEOPLE. Because of all of the BLM supporters, all of those blacks can't feed themselves nor their families. Those riots are doing more harm than good. And if you haven't directly experienced it, you can't criticize people getting mad about it.

About the 4th, i totally agree with you. It wasn't freedom for America; it was freedom for the straight white man.

Sure, it didn't really liberate the population as we know it, but if America hadn't gained their independence on July 4th, 1776, then exactly how long would it have been before they finally got independence and became recognized as a separate country? How differently would things be if America was still being ruled by Britain?

And yes, with all the things going on recently, the 4th of July feels weird to celebrate, but even then a lot of people are using this day to honor America and the freedoms we do have and are grateful for.

Slaves, women, poor, and the LGBT community may not have been liberated then because of how society was back then. Of course human trafficking still takes place worldwide and minorities still face harassment, but it's only a matter of time that we can hope that most prejudice will end, even if it takes until the 3000s.

I'm not going to yell at someone else for celebrating the Fourth unless they're using it as a reason to harass minorities and immigrants (and goodness, quit it with the illegal fireworks). Some people have some important personal traditions around the holiday, and in times of incredible instability, tradition can anchor us.

That being said, there's a reason I don't celebrate it myself anymore. To say that the current state of the country and the people who run it are deplorable would be an understatement. While the Fourth may be about independence from Britain, it's also a day about being proud of and celebrating the country - and I am not proud. I don't want to celebrate. I want to mourn. And so I do.

This bothers me a bit to read.
Okay, I lied. It bothers me a lot. I'm not even angry, just... I dunno. Sad, dissapointed, a bit confused? I'm not really sure what I expected to see when I opened a thread with a title like that.

I may not be in a place to try and relate to a member of the black community and the entire concept of being a member of the LGBTQ+ community just goes over my head entirely, but... I do love this country, even for all it's flaws.

You see, Independance Day was never meant to be the day when all forms of opression ceased to exist within what we know America today; July 4th marked the day when the 13 original colonies decided to start doing something about a more external oppression. We decided we'd had enough of being bossed around by a forigen king across the Atlantic Ocean, and we took action. We signed the Declaration of Independance, armed ourselves, and went to war to break free. We wrote our own laws, established our own government.

This didn't mean young America was perfect.

While gay rights weren't an issue back in those days (since almost all men prefered women back then, and vice versa), many plantation owners had black slaves, and only free men were allowed to vote.

But young America didn't need to be perfect right away. And no, I do not think what was happening to those people was okay. The point is, America couldn't have taken steps to free the oppressed until she first broke free of her own oppresser. And even though it took some time and a civil war, blacks and women now have the same rights as a white male, at least at a Constitutional level.

It's a different story culturally and systematically, (i.e. redlining, private job applications, social bias, etc.) because yes, some people are biggots, racist, or just straight up jerks, and some of those people are in high positions and can abuse thier power (Not calling any names. I will say that I highly doubt Trump is a Nazi as I've heard it put, but that's a discussion for another time.)

But in what country isn't that the case? Great Britian is having BLM protests just like we are, for example. But that's not because of a flaw in our country's statement of freedom; that's sinful human nature. In the words of James Madison, "If men were angels, there would be no need for government." (Federalist no. 51)

We aren't angels, obviously.

Fourth of July isn't a day where we focus on all the flaws our country has. It wouldn't be a very festive holiday if that were the case. Fourth of July is a day where we celebrate our strengths. We have the longest standing Constitution in all of history. We freed ourselves from a global superpower. We stood up on our own feet and led ourselves. And people died in order to allow us to continue.

At the end of the day, even though we don't always seem eye to eye or treat eachother the way we ought to, we still live together. Work together. Stand together. Next time you watch the news, really look. I can almost promise you that you'll see white men standing with black men at those protests as well good people of all colors on the poliece force. Or if the news is too stressful these days, take a walk around the neighborhood. Young children rarely see race as a reason to stop playing, and your neighbor might be offering the elderly couple down the road an oven-ready meal.

We aren't perfect and never will be. Somebody will always be oppressed or mistreated or offended. But what's more important is that we, as Americans (not as a pile of lables we love to slap on eachother), all strive to be something better. And as for me? I'm pretty darn proud to live in a place where people are like that. And that's what Independance Day should be all about.

So, as a closing note, I'd just like to scream God Bless America! I mean, with all the chaos going on around us? Heh! I don't know about you, but another blessing from God would be awesome right about now.





I'm not sorry for the long post, but I will appoligize for the edits. Had a lot of typos.

Someone gets it!