I confess that I am not the most patriotic person around. It is sometimes hard to celebrate the Fourth when you are an African-American because your people were not freed at that time. Nevertheless, some good things did happen with the Declaration and I should be happy about that.
In a few months I will have a book (co-written with Micheal Emerson) come out that deals with racial issues. In it we argue that Americans of different races have to find common values to rally around, even as we continue to appreciate our cultural differences. The example we gave is the value of freedom that is found among Americans of different races.
Then today I attended a multiracial church. In that church they did some of the normal "Rah-Rah America" that you get on July Fourth. But then the pastor talked about the value of freedom and how we should appreciate it. Since the pastor is preaching to a multiracial congregation he had to find a value that is important to people of different races and still have a unifying message on our country's birthday. Is it a coincidence that he choose the value of freedom? I think not.
Well anyway I will blog more about that book when it is closer to coming out. But it is always nice when you get verification of your ideas from an outside source. Hope everyone enjoys the Holiday!!!!
Sincerely,
Trouble-maker
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I totally agree with you. It is hard to be African-American and to celebrate a holiday that didn't include you (at the time). America has a multitude of skeletons that will be eventually exposed, but as an A.A. living now, I'm blessed to be an American because we do enjoy a lot of liberties that our brothers and sisters elsewhere would love to have.
ReplyDelete