Declaration of Independence

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July 7, 2022

     Independence Day has always been an ironic holiday, but none in recent memory have felt so much like a cruel cosmic joke.  It was never accurate to mark July 4th, 1776 as the anniversary of American freedom when “democracy” was only available to white male landowners, with Indigenous people marked for genocide, Black people for enslavement and white women no better than property.  Yet, at least since the middle of the last century, we could point to the grudging and gradual expansion of the American ideal to include more of us.

     In the last six years, the smug certainty of the inevitability of American progress towards greater freedom has been erased.  In its stead is a pervasive sense of dread, a creeping fear that the America of our youthful imagination—brash, hopeful, good hearted, has been replaced with something dark and sinister.  In the last two weeks, dread has been supplanted by full blown panic.

    Far too many of us are belatedly realizing that the autocratic impulse to subjugate and persecute the “other” is not limited by region, wealth or education.  It is a disease that has permeated this country since its founding, afflicting the powerful, privileged and pedigreed as much as the ignorant, “lower class” that we are so quick to disdain.

Some of us are just learning what the most marginalized among us have always known— we are a nation of men, not laws. While a few marginalized Americans ascend to the corridors of power to maintain the illusion of meritocracy, the minute there is a real chance that this country will become a true multiracial democracy— where women, BIPOC people, LGBTQIA people have full citizenship rights, the forces of racism and misogyny tighten the noose, metaphorically and literally.

     The truth is American independence has always been a myth.  We may have thrown off the yoke of British colonialism, but this nation has always been in thrall— to violence, greed and white supremacy.

     This crisis presents an opportunity to remove the shackles of the toxic mythology that have imprisoned us all.  Ignoring the poisonous roots of our country’s greatness  has only allowed the disease to fester and grow.  Unchecked violence cannot be contained by color or creed or zip code— it will not only strike elderly Black shoppers or Jewish people in a synagogue, but flag wavers at an Independence Day parade.  Overturning Roe won’t simply force Black and Latinx women to bear babies against their will, but will retraumatize a 10 year old child who has been raped.  Allowing six radicals in robes to jettison all principles of sound legal reasoning to establish their theocratic vision for this country doesn’t merely threaten women’s bodily autonomy, but our collective rights to clean air and water and ultimately, our guarantee of one person, one vote.

     None of us can afford to sit on the sidelines, waiting for the axe to fall on us.  As we reflect on this year’s Independence Day, let’s all resolve to fight for freedom— for each and every one of us.

#ExpandtheSupremeCourt

#Abolishthefilibuster

#Codifyvotingrights

#CodifyRoeNow