Why We Still Need to Commemorate Independence Day

Like many families in our nation, my own family’s history in this country only began at the turn of the 20th century. Like many others, my grandparents were poor, un- skilled immigrants looking for the promise of a better life. I doubt they ever heard of the 1776 Continental Congress or ever read the Declaration of Independence. But like millions of others before and after, they came searching for work and a place to build a better life in their new land. (Sound familiar?) They raised a family and sent their sons off to war to defend their adopted homeland. They lived to see their children’s children and grandchildren living in a land of freedom and opportunity.

However, this is not the experience of everyone living in America. Although my grandparents encountered prejudice on these shores, they never experienced the persecution suffered by Indigenous Peoples or the slavery, segregation, or racism of many African Americans. I’m fairly certain they never heard that Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II and lost almost every- thing after the war. I often wonder if my grandparents would see themselves in the many images of undocumented people and refugees crossing the Rio Grande and how some Americans revile their mere presence in our country?

With all the turmoil in our society and knowing the wrongs that others have suffered and continue to suffer, I have asked myself why we still celebrate Independence Day? It is my grandparents experience (and the experience of today’s undocumented people and refugees) that helps me to answer that question. No matter what hardships millions of people had or have getting here, this flawed country offers the bright promise of a better tomorrow. That promise demands our nation’s constant vigilance and hard work to ensure that all people can live in a land where everyone has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Our Independence Day is not so much a celebration of what we have achieved as a na- tion but rather it is a pledge to ensure those achievements are shared by everyone.

No matter the challenges we face as a nation we cannot deny the fact that people still risk everything to get here. What draws them? The same dreams that have drawn all the immigrants that have come before them. The dream for a better life for themselves and for their children. That 247-year-old promise is still worth embracing and celebrating.