Today's post is a revised reprint of a blog I originally
published July 9, 2008, and then subsequently in the July 4, 2012 Edition of "Break
It Down!" Since yesterday was the 4th
of July, this redux version is quite timely. I hope you had a wonderful Independence Day, 2017, and that you will
enjoy this week’s blog.
So
as I approached this Fourth of July, as always, I did so with a complicated
panoply of thoughts, a few of which I will share here. Our great country, and
yes, by many measures it is great, strives to be all it can be, at home and
abroad, it's apropos to note we have been successful on many fronts. On others,
we still have work to do. It's fair to embrace our successes, and necessary to
accept our challenges. Doing both is the only way we can reach our true
potential.
As
African Americans, we often find ourselves pulled in divergent directions over
how to address this day; perhaps everyday. A hundred fourteen years ago, W.E.B.
Du Bois framed it thusly in "The Souls of Black Folk:"
"It
is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always
looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by
the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever
feels his twoness, –an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two
unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged
strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder."
I endorse his views on
the subject.
But lest anyone rush to judge Du Bois, he is not alone; he is
not even the first to cast a disparaging eye at the relationship between
African Americans and the Fourth of July. On July 5, 1852, fifty-one years
earlier, Frederick Douglass gave a speech at Corinth Hall, in Rochester, NY,
his home. In a passage of the speech, Douglass said:
“What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a
day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross
injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your
celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national
greatness, swelling vanity; your sound of rejoicing are empty and heartless;
your denunciation of tyrants brass fronted impudence; your shout of liberty and
equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and
thanks-givings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him, mere
bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy -- a thin veil to cover up
crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the
earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the
United States, at this very hour.
Suffice it to say neither Douglass, nor Du Bois
was sold on the notion of the Fourth of July as a pure as the driven snow
family friendly holiday. But that is not the sole point of this post.
No, history has given us the gift of some intriguing coincidences, as well as some compelling ironies. In observing both,
there are times when, even though I hold him/her in great awe, I am convinced God is, if not a confirmed jokester, at least the owner of a genuinely robust sense of humor.
During a number of past holidays, I have addressed ad nauseam, the “principle of incompatibility” that divides holidays
from structured endeavors such as reading, studying, and heaven forbid, working. To that end
I usually try to ratchet it down a notch or two, or several, during
holidays. The fact that today is July
4th, America’s official Independence Day, makes that messaging exceedingly apropos.
Looking back at Independence Days past, 1826 probably held one of the more
noteworthy coincidences. July 4th, 1826, marked not only the 50th
Anniversary of American
Independence, but was also the day two of our nation’s Founding Fathers, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, died. Yes, they died
the same day in the same year. Such an occurrence today would almost certainly
serve as a catalyst for rumors of a death pact.
Adams and Jefferson shared more than joint status as two of the fifty-six co-signers of the Declaration of Independence; they also went on to
become the 2nd and 3rd
Presidents of the United States, respectively. It is reported that Adams’ last words were, “Jefferson still survives.” However, unbeknownst to Adams, Jefferson had died earlier that day.
Adams and Jefferson had quite a concurrent history. Adams was
the first to serve as America’s Vice President, he was the
first President to
live in the executive mansion (known today as the White House), and he was also the first President to be defeated in a re-election bid…by Jefferson,
who had served as his Vice President.
Thomas Jefferson went on to become President after defeating Adams,
but not without a bit of what we would think of today, as drama. Aaron Burr tied Jefferson with 73 electoral votes. As a result, the election was sent to
the House of Representatives to determine the winner. After 36 ballots (that's right 36), Jefferson prevailed. In later developments, Burr, who served for a time as Jefferson's Vice President, killed Alexander Hamilton, who was also a Founding
Father, in a duel. Not surprisingly, Burr's career in politics took a precipitous
decline afterward, although he was never convicted of a crime for his role in the incident.
Burr's leaving the office meant Jefferson had to secure another Vice
President for his
second term as President. After 203 years, P-Funk fans still tip their hat to Jefferson, as he selected George Clinton to hold the second chair. (Funk-a-teers and P-Funk Mythology devotees will know what I mean...see George Clinton, musician, and his
anthem Atomic Dog, as a point of
reference). I digress!
The virtually concurrent deaths of Adams and Jefferson marked an intriguing Independence
Day coincidence of considerable magnitude. This past
Friday July 4, 2008), Independence Day again collaborated with the death of a
prominent political figure, this time in what many consider a compellingly
ironic twist. Former North
Carolina Senator Jesse Helms, popularly known as Senator No, a nickname he appeared
to relish, died leaving a legacy that will be debated, by supporters and
detractors for many years to come.
It is a fact that there are those who consider Helms a patriot. Others have cited his “courage” to stand against the forces of
change, on issues ranging from gay rights to trade agreements, to foreign aid.
Many of his most notable tirades focused on issues of civil rights and affirmative action, and funding for AIDS research. He was also a leading Senate opponent
of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, and he authored and/or
approved the infamous, in North
Carolina anyway (but
highly effective), "white hands" commercial, aired during the first
of two Senate campaign
battles against former Charlotte Mayor, Harvey Gantt (1990).
For that moment in time at least, Senator No drove the concept of negative campaign advertising to a new and ugly low.
The Honorable Senator No appeared to take great pride in his
predictable opposition to progressive ideals, and often needled the
media when he felt he had bested their desired interests. He earned the
distinction of being North Carolina’s longest serving Senator.
That is a noteworthy accomplishment, and cannot be diminished.
However, it must be noted that many of the tributes and editorials
that began streaming forth Friday (July 4, 2008) sanitized the bigotry and raw mean-spiritedness that marked so many of Helms’ political
encounters; especially his triumphs. His was a divisive, zero-sum brand of
politics that often targeted the historically disenfranchised for more abuse,
insult, and exclusion. In that light, it is impossible to deny the essence of irony in the events of Independence
Day, 2008. He was a bona fide Tea Party hero, before his time. One can almost envision the
spirit of King, after having scaled
the mountaintop, uttering that famous three-word phrase…Free at Last! Indeed, it's "Independence Day: Free at LastRedux!"
I’m done; holla back!
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