Should I Celebrate the Fourth of July?

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The other day, someone asked me “Should I celebrate the Fourth of July?” 
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My immediate response was “I believe you should do what makes you feel comfortable,” with a promise to give  further explanation later.  So in my further consideration of this question about whether one (particularly one who is POC in America) should celebrate America’s independence from British reign, I was reminded of a portion of “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro” by Fredrick Douglass.

​Read the entire speech here on PBS.org.
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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.

​Many people have varying opinions on the meaning of Fourth of July for POCs in America.  However, on this day, I want to acknowledge and validate the experience of one to feel pensive or even skeptical about the celebration of Fourth of July.  While the Fourth of July is a day of pride and festivity for many, it may also be a day of somber contemplation, resentment, or even rage.  For many, this day represents strides made for the advancement of all men for freedom and liberty.  For others, this day represents moments in which freedom was not a liberty granted to millions.

For many POCs in America, the suspicion, rejection, and criticism of the Fourth of July is healing.  It’s therapeutic, and a healthy part of a life-long process called racial identity development.  In this process, it is common for POCs to gradually become disillusioned with what it means to be American, to begin to notice distinctions between themselves and “traditional” American values and standards, to become immersed into their own unique cultural, ancestral, or indigenous heritages, and then to determine for themselves at what level they prefer to integrate or blend their cultural identities with their American nationality.

Racial identity development is important and necessary for adequate and authentic personal growth and mental health.  Therefore, the choice to not celebrate America’s independence should not be shamed, judged as unpatriotic, or viewed as negative.  This should be validated as a real choice and a valid experience for millions of American citizens.
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There is room for varying perspectives and experiences of the Fourth of July in America.  This is one that deserves a voice too.