The idea was to reflect on what is on our minds this independence day. With so much happening in our country, the USofA, it is difficult to be in a celebratory mood on this "holiday".
Looking back into childhood, I see my country as "the greatest". It is what I was taught in school. We would pledge our allegiance, our innocent hands over our pure hearts. "With liberty, and justice, for all," our voices proudly declared, having no real understanding of what those words meant.
As white kids, we knew nothing of the deep racism that impacted our classmates and their families. We were taught "color-blindness", a fairytale idea that if you don't see color, color doesn't exist, therefore racism couldn't be real. We only knew of fireworks, bar-b-que, flags on porches, and police officers were the "nice guys". It wasn't until my teen years, when some of my best friends weren't white, that I began to see the ugly truth - america is racist.
Does that mean I don't see the good things that america has? Well, of course, but I see it through my privilege of having white skin. I can't help think that when I have a positive interaction with a police officer, my black and brown friends may not be so lucky. When I walk through my neighborhood at night, I don't wonder if someone is going to call the cops on me. I know the store security isn't going to stop my white sister and ask her if she paid for the stroller her baby is in. I do know they have stopped my brown friends.
And all this is what I am thinking about. The racist president. The institutions of racism that allows such horrific things to happen to our black and brown brothers and sisters. The asylum seeking migrant children and families who are caged on this day of independence. Today, I am somber.
But I have to hope. I want to believe that we can rise to the occasion of "land of the free, home of the brave!" I hope we are up to the challenge. It is going to require those of us privileged to have white skin to interrupt injustice. Our hands are no longer innocent. Our hearts, no longer pure. We know the harsh reality, and if we choose to ignore it, then we deserve the doom that will certainly impact us all.
