Here’s Why This Black Man is Digging This July 4th

This year, I am noticing that I have a lot less ambivalence about July 4th than I have had in the past. I notice that I am more willing to join in the with white folks on TV and in my rural town who are celebrating the day Americans declared independence from British rule. My overwhelmingly progressive social media feed — and Fox News’ ceaseless amplification and castigation of similar sentiments by liberals — tells me that many folks on the left are struggling to feel good today.

What is different for me about today is that two weeks ago, the nation officially acknowledged (and Black folks celebrated) Juneteenth. In short, the existence of Juneteenth Freedom Day has freed me to enjoy Independence Day. Maybe my reasoning can help some other folks struggling to feel okay today.

Certainly, there is a lot of overlap between the connotations of ideas of freedom and of independence. Both concepts reflect a core human desire for autonomy and to control our own destiny, without the constraints that others put on us. After all, what use is our God/universe-given free will if we can’t act on it? Both the ideas of freedom and independence speak to the deep yearning that humans (and animals, for that matter) have for life driven by their own forces, as opposed to being controlled by cages made of metal or someone else’s rules and expectations.