By Polo Munoz, Managing Editor/Publisher
On July 4 1776, the continental congress declared independence from the British for the 13 colonies that made up the American colony, was it a day of freedom for all people who were in the colonies? http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/. As we now have traveled 243 years past that moment, some are still at a crossroads of who should be included in that freedom. The moral imperative that flamed the passion for autonomy and respect of the individual, has now, again, become a passion for subjugation for those that are now administering the country on behalf of groups that are administering violence. Innocent children and adults are being killed in the name of law and order. It seems the ghost of King George III is prevailing with some of the citizenry, agents of government agency administer cruelty to some of those they are called to protect and serve because they believe that their mission is only for a certain few they want to protect and serve.
After we have observed and experienced the violence and extreme depravity that the asylum seekers are being treated with, what do we celebrate today? People should not be overwhelmed by despair, they should be mobilized by anger and disgust. The country that has been the barometer of the ideal that justice and law and opportunity is here for the word, is being abused by those that are supposed to be the moral compass, now what must happen is that we must speak loudly and correct vociferously those whose full intent is to intimidate so that they can hate, and control. This day we need to remember to not just drink beer, barb q and watch fireworks, but to read the document and truly make an effort to understand what is important about it.
It is also important that we remember that these yearly celebrations are also designed to be reminders of what and who we aspire to be, and at this moment when the KKK, Alt-Right, White Supremacists and other hate groups who feel protected and supported to hate, we need to accept that this country will always be the place that fosters all types of ideas, and sometimes, the ideas are twisted, and twisted minds drift to them. We are not protected from those we don’t like, we are supposed to tolerate and if possible accept those that are different, but not those that are violent. We need to use the tools of the legal system to correct those who will harm the “others” they despise. This requires constant education and vigilance of the truth, not the opinions based on self aggrandizement, but compassion and moral compass that includes the well being of all.
On this July 4, 2019, the recognition that we are a democracy that protects those that are persecuted needs to be the focus, or we will be part of the oppressor machine that is now beginning to ravage the world. We must remember that as individuals, we are part of the solution, part of the tools that can revive and enforce the ideal that this country is inclusive to all who need it. We must revive the belief that, just like those that crafted the declaration of independence, we also believe that “we hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness….”
