Fourth of July

Concerning Fourth of July celebrations, James West Davidson writes,

“But the best orators who have marked the day have understood that our nation’s laurels are not meant to be rested on. Fourth of July speeches tend to divide into two sorts. The predominant variety is commemorative, celebratory, and prescriptive—solemnized, as John Adams predicted in 1776, “with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other.”
But in his exuberance, Adams failed to anticipate that the Fourth, as it brought Americans together, would continually threaten to tear them apart. Over the years, celebrations of the Fourth have become a periodic tug of war between commemorations designed to affirm and even enforce the common identity of Americans—out of many, one—and subversive pushback from those obstreperous enough to insist that we are not all free, emphatically not all equal, and certainly not one.”

July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York, Frederick Douglass delivered “What to the slave is the 4th of July?”

What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in 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 denunciation 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 the United States, at this very hour.

Having spent time these past several years with Native Americans as we worked to protect water, I am also wondering what they think about the 4th of July. The day my father and I attended the Meskwaki Powwow was the day military veterans were honored. Veterans were also honored at the Prairie Awakening ceremony. Not having spoken with a Native American about this, I have been reading different views about the 4th of July.

“The Secretary of the Interior issued this Code of Regulations (Code of Indian Offenses) in 1884, 1894, and 1904 through Indian Affairs Commissioner’s circulars and Indian agent directives. Indian superintendents and agents implemented the code until the mid-1930s. During this 50-year period, Indian spiritual ceremonies such as the Sun Dance and Ghost Dance were held in secret or ceased to exist. Some have since been revived or reintroduced by Indian tribes.
In response to this policy of cultural and religious suppression, some tribes saw in the 4th of July and the commemoration of American independence a chance to continue their own important ceremonies. Superintendents and agents justified allowing reservations to conduct ceremonies on the 4th of July as a way for Indians to learn patriotism to the United States and to celebrate its ideals. That history is why a disproportionate number of American Indian tribal gatherings take place on or near the 4th of July and are often the social highlights of the year. Over time these cultural ceremonies became tribal homecomings. American Indian veterans in particular were welcomed home as modern-day warriors. The Navajo Tribe of Arizona and Pawnee of Oklahoma are two examples of tribes that use the 4th of July as an occasion to honor their tribal veterans.” http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july/

Many Native Americans evidently have feelings similar to other people of color, feeling the celebration ironic considering the continued oppression of Native Americans today.

“Now, your question might be wondering if July 4th is a time for sadness or bitterness toward the US for its long history of bullying, White supremacy, theft, tyranny, oppression, and cultural annihilation. Kiowas ain’t got time for that; it’s more important to remember that past so as to prevent a recurrence in the future. By the early 20th century, most Kiowas were fine being “Americans” too. We’re dual citizens, basically. And the men in particular relished the chance to gain war glory fighting for the red-white-and-blue. At the big annual Gourd Dance, every day starts and end with a flag song, where the US flag is raised high at the start, and lowered ceremoniously at the end. Other gourd dances often specifically honor veterans and brave warriors who’ve served in the US armed forces.” What do Native Americans do on the Fourth of July? Andrew McKenzie, Kiowa Indian

The newly launched Poor People’s Campaign is attempting to be a “fusion” movement, pulling all who suffer injustice together in common cause. To work together to form “a more perfect union”, a phrase found in the Preamble to the U.S Constitution, and also the title of the speech Barack Obama delivered at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Noting his proximity to Independence Hall, Obama highlighted the tension between the ideals of equal citizenship and freedom expressed in the Constitution and America’s history of slavery, and connected the American Civil War and civil rights movement with the goals of his own campaign, “to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America.”