Not Celebrating the Fourth of July?
There are many reasons for someone to not celebrate the Fourth of July. For one, seeing as there are currently millions of immigrants who live in the United States, they may be used to celebrating another day as their national holiday and as a result the Fourth of July simply doesn’t strike them as anything special. This can be easily accepted. However, more controversially, there are those who refuse to celebrate this national holiday, even as they are American citizens and have grown up in the U.S., due to their lack of patriotism. They believe it as a peaceful way of protesting social injustice and the historical blunders which their country wouldn’t own up to. The question here that creates differences is whether or not these people are justified in doing so. Many people feel that they are. One of the most prominent of which, Frederick Douglass, who lived around the time of the American Civil war, felt that it was unfair to force slaves to celebrate a country that represented freedom when they themselves were not free but treated with cruelty. He also stated that “for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival,” with which many people agree, citing the glorification of the Native American Genocide while Americans condemn the Holocaust, among other things. On the other side, it is argued that in not celebrating, people are denouncing all the positive things that the U.S has done and that it doesn’t do anything to improve any of the problems in our country. In addition, unlike kneeling during the national anthem, it doesn’t bring much awareness to the issues they are protesting since everyone would be too preoccupied with their celebrating to be paying much attention.
I, myself, am conflicted about which side I am willing to defend. Both sides have solid arguments that I align with even though they contradict each other. Nevertheless, I don’t feel that either of the arguments are right per se, they both have their strengths and faults. It is important, however, to keep in mind that all ideas have a counterargument and everyone should always be open-minded to them, no matter what their beliefs are.
There are many reasons for someone to not celebrate the Fourth of July. For one, seeing as there are currently millions of immigrants who live in the United States, they may be used to celebrating another day as their national holiday and as a result the Fourth of July simply doesn’t strike them as anything special. This can be easily accepted. However, more controversially, there are those who refuse to celebrate this national holiday, even as they are American citizens and have grown up in the U.S., due to their lack of patriotism. They believe it as a peaceful way of protesting social injustice and the historical blunders which their country wouldn’t own up to. The question here that creates differences is whether or not these people are justified in doing so. Many people feel that they are. One of the most prominent of which, Frederick Douglass, who lived around the time of the American Civil war, felt that it was unfair to force slaves to celebrate a country that represented freedom when they themselves were not free but treated with cruelty. He also stated that “for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival,” with which many people agree, citing the glorification of the Native American Genocide while Americans condemn the Holocaust, among other things. On the other side, it is argued that in not celebrating, people are denouncing all the positive things that the U.S has done and that it doesn’t do anything to improve any of the problems in our country. In addition, unlike kneeling during the national anthem, it doesn’t bring much awareness to the issues they are protesting since everyone would be too preoccupied with their celebrating to be paying much attention.
I, myself, am conflicted about which side I am willing to defend. Both sides have solid arguments that I align with even though they contradict each other. Nevertheless, I don’t feel that either of the arguments are right per se, they both have their strengths and faults. It is important, however, to keep in mind that all ideas have a counterargument and everyone should always be open-minded to them, no matter what their beliefs are.
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