I cannot celebrate the 4th of July this year. Instead, I offer up a portion of a speech given by Frederick Douglas 173 years ago. While he was addressing the evils of slavery, let there be no doubt that what was being addressed here was that one class of men had power to dominate and control another.
"What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity are to him mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy -- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour."
173 years later, people are being snatched off the streets by masked men and taken away to undisclosed locations. They are being backed up by military force called in by our own government.
There are people who have built a tent city in the middle of an alligator infested swamp. They plan to fill this with people, children included. Laura Loomer, one of the president's advisors gloated, "The good news is the alligators are guaranteed 65 million meals if we get started now."
Think of it.
Desperate people in the middle of a swamp. Insects. Tents that leak and flood (and have already done so after only two days). Parents. Children. Families. Old people. Very young people. The inhumanity of it is bad enough, but to be joking about it is pathologically lacking in empathy.
Yet, here we are.
So, I quote Frederick Douglas once again. "There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour."
I can't even think about celebrating this year. I don't recognize this country anymore and I'm so ashamed that our fellow citizens have voted for and continue to support the atrocities.
ReplyDeleteJennifer, I have said it from the beginning. MAGA will only blink when these things begin to negatively impact them. It is about to happen. This Big Beautiful Bill will impact them and theirs very negatively. They will feel the pain. It is necessary for change and growth. Unfortunately, there are so many innocent victims to this.
DeleteUnfortunately, they won't feel the pain until after mid-terms, when the bill kicks in. They did that on purpose so the Democrats would lose the talking point.
DeleteNot much celebrating here either. We just returned from a trip to Canada where we were very welcomed. We apologized for our country and made sure they knew we don't support any of his nonsense. Everyone we met recognized who is the problem in the current administration. I think they felt sorry for us.
ReplyDeleteYeah. Because it is not as bad as it is going to get.
DeleteWe all feel sorry that you're having to go through this horror.
ReplyDeleteI feel as if we have unleashed something awful on the world.
DeleteI made a sign for the no Kings protest that included a US flag, except it was in rainbow colored stripes and rainbow stars. I've hung it upside down to my front porch railing. I had mistakenly thought that by joining protests I might inspire someone who didn't vote to actually vote next election. Magats I figured are a lost cause. Turns out, according to the Pew study, if more people had voted, the felon would have won by an even bigger margin. Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Asian Americans voted overwhelmingly for tRump. I now only bother supporting the GLBTQ+ community, Native Americans, and migrant/illegal immigrants. We are in crisis.
ReplyDeleteQuite honestly, there is no sense in looking at woulda coulda. It just is. We all need to figure out what we do in these hard days.
DeleteDebby, a big thanks for sharing this. I have shared it forward via email. Here's the thing on my mind as I was sending it - there are so few people in my life that share my view. The "to" email list is painfully short. So many kind and generous people, some I have loved my entire life - and yet they voted and continue to support this horror. I will never ever understand that. But, as you say above to Jennifer, they will most likely be innocent victims and feel the pain. I dread that also, if that makes sense, because they are important to me.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean.
DeleteI am so sorry for what you Americans are going through, it is just crazy times. I guess some people will have to suffer greatly before they get it. I don’t think you will ever be able to vote again but I hope I am wrong. We seem to get more honest news up here in Canada. Keep your elbows up. Gigi
ReplyDeleteWe have brought it upon ourselves.
DeleteAgreed! Agreed!
ReplyDeleteAllie and I are not celebrating. In fact, I am watching murder mysteries because they always get the bad guys in the end. My heart is torn asunder in 2025.
Rita - Like you, I'm finding comfort in murder mysteries always getting the bad guys. Usually, those made in Finland, as all my relatives are from there and I'm in the progress of learning Finnish. Heard it all around growing up, but was never really interested (majored in Arabic instead) ...until now, now that all the old Finlanders are in that big sauna in the sky. -- Roxanne, Washington state
DeleteI will watch the Swedish ones for the same reason...drawn to them because all the relatives are/were 100% Swedish up until my brother, sister, and I. A grandfather and some great grandparent came over, but were so proud to be Americans they didn't speak Swedish. They spoke with a definite Swedish accent, though-lol! Apparently I have a little bit of one myself I've been told. ;)
DeleteI love this exchange!
DeleteThanks.
ReplyDeleteAs well as that, you only have to go back to the original declaration of independence to see how wrong they are now
They are exactly what the writers of that document were trying to protect us from.
DeleteI agree. I think we're definitely under a police state. Never heard of sending Marines to help an unofficial ICE do their evil deeds. I feel sorry for the military folks who joined, never realizing they'd be used for evil. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteI'd like to think that they are conflicted.
DeleteI'm not celebrating either, how can I? Evil has taken over our land and I can't fix it.
ReplyDeleteNot one of us can...but we can refuse to be a part of the evil.
DeleteEvil is afoot in this country. $40B for ICE tells us that something terrible is on his mind. SCOTUS just told him he can deport those people who have been in the shipping container for weeks to South Sudan. They'll die there. How in the heck did we get here?
ReplyDeleteThose numbers are incomprehensible. Our ugliness will bankrupt us.
DeleteThose are powerful words.
ReplyDeleteThose who ignore the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat it.
Unfortunately it seems we have learned nothing.
DeleteWe here can only watch and hope we don't follow on.
ReplyDeleteI cannot understand why any onlookers would be tempted to. We are a living, breathing cautionary tale.
DeleteI have often thought that this country can never be anywhere near great until there is at least some effort at reconciliation and reparations. And you know what? I don't think that's ever going to happen.
ReplyDeleteSome days are worse than others for me. I am sure this is true of everyone. Today has been one of those days. I feel as if I have given up hope.
Oh heavens, Ms. Moon. This is 'Merica. Apologies are not a sign of our strength.
DeleteWhat a perfect quote from Douglas...thank you for the reminder. i read him donkey's years ago. i can't even begin to say how sad and ashamed i am about what's going on and has always gone on in this country. Lini from petaluma
ReplyDeleteI know. Just the fact that there are people laughing at the pain of others is the part I can't stand. How did they ever end up in charge?
DeleteTBH, we have not celebrated the 4th for quite some time now for obvious reasons, especially this one. Douglas's word are prophetic considering the situation that we find ourselves in today. I do hope that this country recovers, but I worry that it will not.
ReplyDeleteI don't expect that I will live long enough to see all the wrongs righted, but I hope to live long enough to see the tide begin to turn.
DeleteI am just overwhelmed with sadness.
ReplyDeleteI am sad. I try to not become overwhelmed. Today, I am.
DeleteSome people like to ignore or downplay some very awful times in the past.
ReplyDeleteI cannot believe we are at this point. But here we are.
DeleteSickening and depressing.
ReplyDeleteYes. I can't disagree.
DeleteSomewhere recently, someone pointed out the list of grievances against the King of England that are in our Declaration of Independence. If you haven't read them, they sound just like a list of what the current administration is doing to our country now. Creepy.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript