Independence Day

Photo by AussieActive on Unsplash

As is customary, we celebrate July 4th as our nation’s Independence Day. There will be all manner of ways the day is marked. Provided the weather permits, and no smoke floats down from Canadian wildfires, fueled from climate-change-driven drought, there will be parades, barbecues, beach days, dips in the pool, fireworks and more. The basis of the celebration is the country expressing a desire of freedom from England.

In an overly simplistic overview, I see the nation’s history in the following way. It began with an idea: that people would be governed by an authority they voted for and consented to, not inherited rule. It was forged in a war for independence from Britain. At first, White men and women were free and only men with land could vote. Then, eventually all White men, regardless of real estate holdings could vote and be heard.

Eventually, this right to representation and consent to being ruled grew and broadened. Formerly enslaved Africans were freed, and Black men gained the right to vote. Women gained this right, after struggle and protest. With each decade, in fits and starts, this nation saw more of its people; women, people of color, recent immigrants and native born, gain more rights and freedoms. The access to these freedoms was never equal or perfect. The promise for all to equally enjoy America’s gifts always glinted off in the distance, possibly just past one more generation’s passage and appearing tantalizingly closer with the arrival of another generation.

Progress was never linear, nor was it always constant. This nation had periods of regression, hatred, xenophobia, superstition and retrospection pulling it backwards amid its periods of growth. We’ve recently experienced another period of regression. This past year, in my opinion at least, the reactionary slide that began in earnest under the former presidential administration, rapidly accelerated with the rulings of the Supreme Court he notably shaped.

The court he filled, with the help of willing, rule-bending Republican accomplices in the legislature, proceeded to dismantle numerous established rights and protections in just over a year. Rules and protections that underpinned assumptions for personal, commercial, individual, family, foreign or domestic interests and decisions were erased. In certain cases, we learned these erasures agreed with positions of wealthy patrons who blanketed justices in lavish gifts and trips.

We witnessed legal gymnastics and deployment of pretzel logic to defend the removal of other rights. In one case, we saw abandonment of the concept of legal standing, the idea that a plaintiff must show a specifically defined injury, to lodge a suit. In another case, recent reporting indicates that the plaintiff not only hadn’t established the business endeavor she was suing on behalf of, she named a defendant who had never heard of her, nor had ever contacted her for services. In essence, the entire decision is predicated on a thought exercise with a fictional defendant and a plaintiff with a hypothetical business case. Regardless of that, the removal of a protected class’s rights is now final.

These decisions make wider, deeper moats with more alligators, and place additional archers with flaming arrows at the ready atop castle walls to protect the wealthy, powerful and those whose rights in this country were never infringed. This is as infuriating as it is disheartening. So, what do we do on the losing end? Give up?

No. There is an election happening next November, and despite what network infotainment says, more than a presidency is at stake. Every one of those elected spots wields power. Every one of those seats has influence. Every one of those seats can be put to use to protect, reinstate and bolster rights and freedoms. Don’t stay home and sulk. Get pissed, get out, vote and flip this rigged game table over.

This Supreme Court’s majority says, “throw it back to the states.” Make sure your state speaks for and represents you. There will be representatives at your local level, in state legislatures, some states electing governors and others attorneys general. If they are working in your favor, come out in droves to keep them. If you aren’t sure, check their record to know. See where they stand on the issues. If they are moving against your interests, rights and freedoms, come out in droves and remove them with your vote.

This Supreme Court’s majority says, “laws must be passed by Congress that explicitly state the people’s will and certain protections. Otherwise, we won’t protect historically victimized groups.” The only way to pass protective laws lately is a majority House and 60 seats in the Senate. Make sure your Congressional representatives speak for you. Your district’s House of Representatives and possibly a Senate seat may be up for election. If your reps are on your side and voting to get the job done, come out in droves to keep them. If you aren’t sure, check their record to know. See where they stand on the issues. If you want to see rescinded rights and freedoms return by being made into law, and your current representative isn’t helping, vote them out. If they keep reaching the knife block, they’re going to keep stabbing you in the back.

We often hear The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus recited, the poem at the base of the Statue of Liberty. Usually, it is in reference to the immigration of the early 1900’s, and many frequently mention the portion about the “huddled masses, yearning to breathe free.” Yet, an earlier stanza of this work stood out to me a bit more. It says:

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles.

Lady Liberty in that poem is referred to as Mother of Exiles. Exile is an absence, forced or voluntary, from one’s home. European immigrants that came, whether for religious freedom, indentured servitude, or a fresh start were in exile. Asian immigrants who made their way here to start a new life, also in exile. Captured Africans, their history and culture removed by use of torture, enslaved and then freed after hundreds of years by a war, also in exile. Even those here first, the indigenous, are suspected by anthropologists to have arrived by a land bridge that connected what is now Alaska and Russia. They are the original exiles.

All of us in this nation, we in exile, belong to her. A mother loves all of her children. Every one of us deserves and should be shown love. A mother welcomes all of her children into her house. All of us here should be made equally welcome. A mother ensures all of her children are provided for. All of us deserve to have the means to provide for our needs, not necessarily lavish, but basic, dignified provisions. Mothers want their children to be safe and protected. All of us here should be safe and protected, not some of us safe and others not. Mothers appreciate the differences in their children and accommodate them. Our differences should be valued and accommodated.

Take today and celebrate the freedoms you do enjoy. Take a bite out of that grilled hot dog and savor the satisfying snap of its casing and savory saltiness. Let that cold beverage of your choice soothe and slake your thirst. However, if you aren’t fully satisfied with the freedom you have, or have recently lost some of it via Supreme Court ruling, purpose that dog and drink into fuel. Commit that fuel into a plan of action. Execute your plan and rally yourself and others like you to the polls in droves. Show up next November and seize your independence. After all, if we don’t consent to the way we are being governed, this nation’s framing demands a rebuke of it. Not only does it demand rebuke but the installation of government that a majority of us do consent to and trust to represent and protect us, all of us.

Happy Fourth and thanks again for lending Rant to Atmosphere your eyes and precious time.