Are We Really Free?

An Independence Day Reflection

Photo by Josh Johnson on Unsplash

The Fourth of July is coming up, and once again we will all be ra-ra American - blowing up fireworks, grilling hot dogs, and waving around our country’s flag screaming “God Bless America!” Unless you’re me of course, if you’re like me you’ll be luxuriating in the day off while also scorning the whole holiday as a sham under your breath. America is supposed to be the land of freedom - it’s citizens are promised the right to free speech, the right to peaceful protest, the right to bear arms, the separation of church and state, etc., and yet, every day our branches of government and our institutions seems to work against those very ideals (minus the right to bear arms, of course).

Every day I become a little more weary of the realities of being an American. I watched in horror as students across this country were stripped of their right to peacefully protest against the atrocities happening in Gaza. They were brutalized by the police and written off as anti-semitic by the very institutions that they spent many years and ten of thousands, in some cases hundreds of thousands, of dollars paying for an education. Are they, college students, really free?

In Contractions, an Op-Doc by the New York Times, it was reported that “As of June 2024, 21 states have fully banned abortion or restricted access to the procedure.”¹ In almost half of the states in this country, women don’t have autonomy over their own bodies anymore. Women living in abortion ban states have to travel out of state just to get adequate abortion care, or simply go without it. Are we, women, really free?

Every payday I find myself crunching numbers like a damn accountant, stressed over every dollar coming and going. Trips to the grocery stores are starting to feel like luxury shopping expenditures, with basic items almost always over the five dollar mark. Unfortunately, I am not alone in my financial distress. A recent MarketWatch survey reported that “Nearly nine in 10 survey-takers (88%) reported feeling financial stress, with 65% stating that their finances are the most stressful aspect of their life.”² How interesting, when America is one of the most prosperous countries on the face of the planet, and we are all, on average, working five or more days a week just to survive. Are we, tax paying citizens, really free?

There is so much more I could say about the issues we’re facing in American society right now, I still can’t wrap my head around the latest Supreme Court decisions or the first presidential debate, but you get the gist; our country is failing to deliver on its promise of “liberty and justice for all.”

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X

When I read the first draft of this piece to my father, I told him what I wrote “is not even radical, it’s just the truth,” to which he replied “the truth is radical.” Honestly, I wish I did not have to be a “radical,” in fact, I long for patriotism. I would love to exist in this country as just an American, no hyphen. I would love to feel at a home in the country I was born and raised in. I would love to experience life in America without the shackles of permanently being a second class citizen. I would love to have faith that our government has our best interests in mind. I have spent my entire adult life working and paying into this system, it would be nice to actually believe in it.

I want to celebrate the Fourth of July and be proud to be an American, but I see it too clearly. To be Black, to be a woman, to be educated, gives me the blessing and the curse of seeing through the idealistic facade that this country creates. I know America intimately, it doesn’t hide the ugly parts of itself from people like me, and these days, the ugly isn’t really hiding from anyone anymore.

When I started writing this piece, it was out of anger over the state of women’s abortion rights - I couldn’t have predicted how much more chaos would ensue in America before it was time to publish. I now feel fear that what we knew of this country, as fucked up as it could be, is slipping away. I worry that the drama of The Handmaid’s Tale isn’t too far off from what this country could become should Project 2025 get off the ground. We the people are dejected, tired, over it, but we must remain angry and aware. The moment we become too distant, too comfortable, too hopeless, then the people looking to steal what’s left of our democracy win. Perhaps the corporations and the politicians have the money, but we have each other, and hopefully, that means something.

1

Sachs, L. (2024, June 18). Contractions. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000009438727/contractions.html

2

Singh, D., & Dunn, A. (2024, June 28). Financial stress survey: 41% of Americans say money has destroyed their mental health. MarketWatch. https://www.marketwatch.com/guides/banking/financial-stress/#:~:text=In%20an%20era%20where%20high,account%20balance%20out%20of%20fear.