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246 Years of America: Honor and Lament

On this day 246 years ago, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. Fighting continued for five more years, and eventually a treaty was signed to officially recognize the independence of the United States of America. Many folks barbecue and shoot off fireworks today because our nation was born 246 years ago. While I do want to honor the sacrifices of the Americans who, for the past 246 years, have died on battlefields, believing in the good of the nation that they fight for, the 246th birthday of America doesn't make me feel like celebrating. Those who have fought for the United States and those who have died defending the independence and democracy of this country have stories that should be told and lives that should be remembered. I affirm that, and I also grieve that the independence that they defend is not equally distributed.

I cannot think of that document, the Declaration of Independence, without the sobering reminder that the same document that boasts of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" for all men also refers to the nations of native inhabitants who respectfully cared for the land for centuries as "merciless Indian savages". And now, 246 years later, America's empire is built on the genocide of native nations, stolen land, and broken treaties from sea to shining sea.

I cannot recall the Declaration of Independence without the realization that the unalienable rights that it boasts of were not granted to the native inhabitants of the land or to the enslaved Africans whose inhumane treatment and unpaid labor launched the new country to economic superpower status. The unalienable rights have been limited from the conception of this country. When one group's life, liberty and pursuit of happiness leads to the continued enslavement, oppression, and genocide of everyone else, then independence is disaster and freedom is a farce.

The founders of this country declared independence from colonial control, but not from oppression and brutality, which sadly seems to be something that these United States remain divided over. Depending on who you ask, systemic oppression may be vehemently denied or very personally experienced. 

There are as many narratives of America as there are people within its borders, and each one contains truth. The America that is a safe haven for the migrant fleeing for their life is the same America that leaves another safety seeker to die in ICE custody. The America that my ancestors sailed to in pursuit of a dream is the same America that my neighbor's ancestors were sold to in chains. The America that has empowered descendants of European misfits, adventurers, and outcasts to amass generational wealth is the same America that has robbed, lied, and redlined generations of descendants of enslaved Africans out of accumulating wealth to pass down.

As an American in 2022, I feel great disparity between what I want America to be and what I see that it is. I want us to be better. I want us to repair our past and present so that our future is better than this. I don't want our future to be lived in the moments between mass shootings and I want systemic oppression and racism to be eradicated. I want stolen land returned to native nations and I want reparations for the descendants of those who were enslaved on American soil. May we honor what should be honored. May we lament what should be lamented. May we repent what should be repented. May we repair what can be repaired.

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