A Happy and Safe Independence Day on this Fourth of July to all my fellow Americans! I’ll be taking the time to spend barbequing with family and friends on the deck. Growing up in Philadelphia, living through the Bicentennial hoopla of 1976, working near the historic section and Independence Hall all my adult life, and just being an overall history nerd, I’ve always come to see these 4th of July celebrations as more than just fireworks and hotdogs. Like Jasper Johns’ Flag (above), the birth of America is a much more nuanced and textured reality than the smooth image of the history text books. Today’s political realities just add to the shadows, but today is a day to celebrate Jefferson et al.’s audacious experiment of American democracy and to live out the words:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
2 comments:
Shame on you america!
Sergio,
I hope you don't mean all of us. There's still some of us fighting the good fight and living right.
But I know what you mean.
--Bob
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