I'm not really a fan of July 4th commemorating. Sure, I like my sister-in-law's barbecue. When the kids were still at home I enjoyed the special family time. I'd be lying if I claimed to not like fireworks. But the premise of the whole thing--bogus AF. You don't claim to be creating a nation dedicated to the premise that all men are created equal while proudly practicing land theft, genocide, and enslavement with its attendant evils. The annual Disneyficatation of our nation's history leaves me cold. And big year celebrations leave me especially cold. I was around for the Bicentennial. I saw how much energy and time was put into presenting a ruthlessly curated version of our origins to the world.
This year, with the White House incumberance (not a misspelling) running the show I am really apprehensive. Imagine my delight when I learned that a renowned scholar had written a whole book addressing the issue. Eddie S. Glaude Jr.'s America, U. S. A.: How Race Shadows The Nation's Anniversaries is a brilliant revelation of the huge gaps between the nation we celebrate and the nation we actually inhabit at different points in time.
Glaude's theory gets right to the heart of the matter:
"American double consciousness is the consequence of a nation that defines itself with the foundational principle of the equality of men and, yet, holds others as chattel or resigns them to second-class status...It is the split that comes with the American promise and contempt for that promise--warring ideals, from the beginning, that have threatened and continue to threaten to the tear the nation apart."
In other words America is either a nation for all or a whites only nation. People are usually fighting over which it is and should be. Sometimes whites try to do better or look like we do better for BIPOC. But when we tire of trying we can lash out in pretty vicious ways. When an event is coming up that will turn the attention of the world on America--say a milestone anniversary--those in charge will demand consensus on the shining light on the hill narrative, making sure people with legit grievances are not seen or heard.
Our Centennial came close on the heels of the Civil War. Slavery had been outlawed. Blacks were voting and even getting elected to offices. Didn't that rile a lot of whites! Not to mention whites on both sides of the Mason Dixon Line were getting tired of Reconstruction. Whole lot of violence being committed by those angry whites. Well the Centennial was focused on the beauty of the North and the South reuniting after a bloody civil war. The plight of the nation's blacks was swept under the rug.
The Sesquicentennial came right in the middle of the roaring twenties. A world war and a global pandemic were over. A whole lot of invention and innovation were going on. But there was something sinister afoot. The film Birth of a Nation had rekindled white race paranoia, enabling the KKK to go mainstream and become hugely popular, even in Maine. Immigration restrictions on "certain racial types" became the law of the land and eugenics its secular religion, the better to keep the undesirables from taking over the nation...
...See any resemblance to our times?...
...And while all that was going down President Coolidge was reassuring the world that whatever crisis or conflict America faced its citizens could look back to its birth for the solution. "It was not only the principles declared, but the fact that therewith a new nation was born founded upon those principles and which from that time forth in its development has actually maintained those principles, that makes this pronouncement an incomparable event in the history of government."
Glaude does due diligence for each anniversary including the one we're stuck in now. I'm really impressed with the breadth and depth of his scholarship and the passion and urgency he brings to the topic.
If you, like me, are not quite sold on the semiquincentennial as cause for unquestioning celebration most definitely put America, U. S. A. on your summer reading list.
On a purrrsonal note, it's been a really good week. Tuesday Bailey, Cam, and I had a picnic at Orono Community Garden. The weather was purrrfect. I showed them the gardens and they were really impressed. Later I took pictures for the children's garden and volunteered in the community garden. Wednesday I participated in the weekly vigil. I wore the flower 🌼 🌸 crown Bailey gave me. I had a new sign I made: HONK IF YOU WANT PEACE. We had a record 164 honks. Before our record was 112.
A great big shout out goes out to Bailey, Cam, gardeners big and small, and the faithful vigil crew.
Jules Hathaway
