OPINION: ‘Here We Go, Again!’ (Celebrating the 4th of July)

By Ivory Phillips

JA Contributing Editor

This year on July 4th the United States of America will celebrate 250 years of being independent from English control. This occasion may be even more of a big deal this year because in addition to the congressionally-sanctioned “America 250” celebration, the Trump administration is staging “Freedom 250” on the National Mall in D.C. 

Black Americans will be involved in both of those celebrations. Perhaps even more telling, thousands more will be celebrating in various ways around the country. That’s the way it has been for most of the history of this country. Black people have joined in celebrating as if the signing of the Declaration of Independence was highly significant to their ancestors.

On July Fourth 1852, Frederick Douglass, the most prominent Black person in America at the time and a most highly respected spokesperson, delivered a scathing oration, condemning the celebration of the Fourth of July because it did not include freedom or liberation for enslaved African people in America. That speech, however, was almost never mentioned in the public schools attended by Black children. Instead, that holiday was promoted as were others, such as the birthdays of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, that had very little to do with Black freedom or liberation.

The writer, just as many other Black people who grew up during that era, was propagandized to believe the idea that America’s independence was beneficial to all of its residents. Fireworks, picnics, parades, and patriotic speeches were abundant then, just as they are now to mark the occasion.

This year as the day approached, the writer recalled Ray Charles’ version of the 1967 recording of the country and western song, “Here We Go, Again.” In that song, Ray Charles knew when his old lover returns to town he will take her back again. He knows she will make a fool of him again, but he’s taking her back, one more time. One particular part of the song standing out is “I’ve been there before and I’ll try it again. She’ll break my heart again. But any fool knows that there’s no way to win.” Many Black people understand the same cycle of acceptance and rejection, as America has used and continues to use them. Yet, to display their patriotism, when it comes to celebrating Independence Day, here we go again. 

In addition to knowing what Douglass said in 1852 was true, many Black people have come to know or realize that not only were their ancestors enslaved for more than 200 years. They are also aware of how Black people were exploited, ostracized or segregated, lynched, and otherwise oppressed for 160+ years after slavery ended. Many Black people know or realize the Trump administration seems intent on stripping Black people of their rights and returning them to the days of Jim Crow, under the so-called “Make America Great Again” movement. In short, America’s declaring its independence has not meant the same thing for Black Americans as it has for white Americans.

Many Black people this Fourth of July, even as they celebrate, know that like the lover in Ray Charles’ song, America will break their heart again; that they cannot expect to “win” equal treatment just because they are “loyal” Americans. They celebrate and remain hopeful because they believe in the promises in the Declaration. They believe enough white minds have been changed through education, religion, and interactions with Black people over the years to have made a difference in how Black people are viewed and treated.

Unless one wants to be like the peasants of Rome – just taking the day off and partying to ease their minds – the writer recommends we approach July Fourth with a different attitude. Rather than joining in celebrating as if Black people were benefitted by America breaking from England, African Americans should mark July Fourth by: 

(1) Gathering to discuss the predicament of their enslaved ancestors and how they are affected culturally, politically, and economically down to this day; 

(2) Informing or educating one another of the work needing to be done in order to protect and advance their human and civil rights; and 

(3) Organizing through voting, public protests, and otherwise to actually help bring about the fulfillment of the promises listed in the Declaration of Independence. Carrying out such actions must become the way in which Black people meaningfully celebrate what others consider to be Independence Day. It is one way to provide a prescription for the question asked by Douglass in 1852, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” It is the kind of antidote for Ray Charles’ situation in “Here We Go, Again.”