By Anonymous #7
Today marks the 250th anniversary of American Independence Day. It feels very different from the celebrations I remember growing up.
When I was a child, July 4th was a spectacle. My family gathered every year. My grandfather fired up the grill while my grandmother made potato salad and all the fixings. After lunch there was homemade ice cream or fresh peach cobbler. But the real excitement came after dark. Growing up in Texas, fireworks were everywhere, and lighting them was what I lived for each summer.
As we grow older, however, our understanding of history changes. I learned that the celebration of American independence has never meant the same thing to everyone. For many Native Americans, it marked the beginning of the destruction of their way of life. For African Americans, freedom would not come for another 89 years, followed by generations of unequal treatment. Women would wait nearly a century and a half before gaining the right to vote.
America, in its infancy, was not as great as history often portrays it. It was a extraordinary idea, one that produced many achievements, but had a long journey ahead before it could truly live up to its founding ideals.
That journey included a Civil War, two world wars, and countless struggles for civil rights and equality. America became a nation admired around the world, because it had shown an ability to grow, correct itself, and strive toward something better.
America has always had skeletons in its closet, so perhaps it should not surprise us that, on the nation’s 250th anniversary, we find ourselves moving backward in some ways. We elected a convicted felon as president. That fact alone says less about one man than it does about us.
We have neglected education, civic engagement, and critical thinking. According to literacy studies, 54% of American adults struggle with reading beyond a 6th grade level. Entertainment often replaces curiosity, outrage replaces discussion, and insults replace debate. It has become easier to blame one another than to solve problems together.
Today, hateful speech is common. Rights are debated that many assumed were secure. Distrust between citizens and government continues to grow. In my own experience as an activist, I have seen government officials and law enforcement misuse authority in ways that undermine public confidence. Are these problems caused by one leader or by deeper cultural issues? When those at the top dismiss truth, attack institutions, or encourage division, those behaviors spread throughout society.
None of this means I hate America.
I love this country. I love its people, its landscapes, its creativity, and the freedoms protected by the Constitution. Because I love it, I believe it can do better.
We need to become more engaged. We should embrace not only our similarities but also our differences. We should travel, explore, create, and continue learning long after formal education ends. We should use our First Amendment rights to petition our government, exchange ideas, and defend liberty—not to dehumanize one another.
Government ultimately derives its authority from the people. We elect our representatives, fund our institutions through taxes, and possess the responsibility to hold leaders accountable. Democracy depends on citizens who are informed, involved, and willing to participate.
Under Trump, the 250th anniversary does not carry the same feeling it might have under another president. Much of the past year has felt surreal. Public discourse has become increasingly theatrical, while serious national challenges often seem overshadowed by spectacle. At times it feels as though our attention has drifted away from the values that made America worthy of celebration in the first place.
Yet even now, America continues to produce stories that remind us who we are.
On this Independence Day, Kelsey Pfendler arrived in Hawaii after rowing alone from California in just 43 days. She broke both the women’s and men’s world speed records for the crossing and became the first woman to complete the journey from California to Hawaii. Her accomplishment reflects the courage, determination, and spirit of exploration that have long defined this country.
Perhaps that is what America’s 250th anniversary should mean.
We should recognize our failures without forgetting our achievements. We should protect what is great while working tirelessly to improve what is not.
America has never been great because it was flawless. It has been great because generation after generation has challenged it to become a little more just, a little more free, and a little closer to the ideals it was founded upon.
That work is not finished. It now belongs to us.
