the limited ‘freedom’ we celebrate
This may not be something we all agree on or realize but July 4th is not a day to celebrate freedom. It’s a day to celebrate independence and autonomy as it marks the day America was no longer under the rule of the British. Yet, what is something we hear many folks say on July 4th?
“Celebrating Freedom!”
“So grateful to be free”
“Land of the free and home of the brave”
The importance of seeing the distinction between independence and freedom goes deeper into the threshold of this country's history and current reality much more than we may realize. We’ve mixed up the words independence and freedom to mean the same thing, but they don’t. I know this narrative well because the country my family is from, Dominican Republic, has a nationally known independence day that some folks (like myself) don’t acknowledge as the actual independence day. The reason for that is because we were under Spanish rule sometime after that supposed independence from Haiti. If you’re interested in learning more about that complex history, I’d encourage you to look into it but for America, it looks slightly different because we didn’t have any other colonization or rulership after July 4th, 1776.
But just because that was no longer our status after 1776, it doesn’t mean we were all free.
Let’s first look at the definition of freedom from the dictionary:
Free·dom - noun: the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.
After 1776, there have been many people who have been enslaved and imprisoned. Even after what we knew to be chattel slavery was ‘over’, there have been many forms of slavery and imprisonment since then. Today, it’s experienced by way of institutional slavery, and marginalization. Now, don’t hear what I’m not saying. I’m not comparing what we are going through now to the hundreds of years of slavery this country previously had. But things can exist in different forms throughout history. The goal isn’t to compare what’s worse or better but to make something that is evil and wrong dissipate.
Now let’s also look at the first part of the definition. Being restrained from speaking, thinking, or acting as one desires and has the right to. I know someone who went through that, Jesus. He was constantly questioned, confronted, and attacked for what He wanted to do and say. Because He is God, they couldn’t actually take His freedom away - but that doesn’t mean they didn’t try. The same happens to so many of us who are a part of marginalized and targeted groups.
Our voices are silenced.
Our actions are seen as extreme or uncalled for.
And our thinking is portrayed as past-oriented or limiting. But none of that is true.
So if I am perceived that way - what do I do as a woman of color who is grateful for the privilege of being an American while also knowing the freedom that so many speak about is not the narrative of my life? What do I do on July 4th when I have the day off and I hear fireworks from my Bronx apartment but remember that Juneteenth just became a recognized holiday in 2021? How do I feel when I know for certain there are parts of this country that would be dangerous for me to visit?
Do I celebrate? Do I protest? Do I hate? Do I love? Do I pray? Do I just silently sit back and eat a burger?
As a Black Latina who was born in this country and is a daughter of immigrants from a country that also struggles with colorism and racism, I know too well the narrative of seeing people celebrate something that I struggle to see as something worth celebrating. Many of us will have the day off on July 4th and maybe you’ll choose to celebrate independence (no judgment here - do your thing!). But if you want to sabbath or protest or pray or sleep or cry or shout on that day instead, that’s okay too.
To be a person of color in America is to be constantly confused, conflicted, and cautious. That’s normal, don’t ever think it’s not okay to feel and think those things. So alternatively, if we want to celebrate something around this American holiday - perhaps we can consider both celebrating independence and also honoring and remembering people of color who have chosen to fight for our freedom in undeclared wars that felt impossible to win. People like African-American Civil Rights Activist Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Native American activist Madonna Thunder Hawk, Latina Civil Rights Activist Dolores Huerta, Asian Labor Rights Activist Larry Itliong, Black justice leader Ella Baker, and many more who have acknowledged that freedom was not everyone’s story after July 4th, 1776 but that this is a continuous fight, with Jesus on our side and justice on our mind - to believe that we are free indeed (John 8:36) and “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” - Galatians 5:13
Mass shootings. Police Brutality. Poverty. Control. Segregation (yes, still). Racism. Struggling Education System. etc. etc.
That is not freedom and THANK GOD we don’t need to wait for a country or a people to make us free. In Christ, we are free but as Galatians 5:13 says - Freedom is the power to serve others because you yourself are free.
Many have done this for us before and we can do it for many right now. Even in the midst of the fight for our lives to get a piece of dignity or respect as the beautifully multi-colored tapestry of image-bearing bodies we are. Free indeed gets to be our narrative too, even if the initial independence of America did not grant us that.