America is celebrating 250 years today, and the Semiquincentennial is an exciting time for this Alabamian! We plan to watch fireworks over the Tennessee River and join neighbors and friends to commemorate not just the founding of our great country, but the privilege we have to be threads in the tapestry of this nation.
America is us and what we have made it, and if it is to survive another 250 years, then it will be up to us. As Benjamin Franklin said, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”
I was nine years old when we celebrated America’s bicentennial. While I didn’t know all the details or the ins and outs of our country’s history, there was never a moment in my young life when I didn’t know that I was a part of its fabric. My family and I celebrated and rejoiced accordingly as people with the full rights and privileges of citizens. My mother even bought me clothing to match my patriotism: I had a pair of American flag jeans that I rocked for most of that year, because, ‘Merica!
Fifty years later, I get the honor to celebrate America’s 250th with adult eyes and more detailed knowledge, both historical and personal. My awe, wonder, passion, and sense of place about my part in the American story has not diminished.
After traveling to other parts of the world in the 59 years of my life, here is what I know: America is the land of opportunity, no matter your race, color, creed, or social standing. Every opportunity of which I have been blessed to take advantage – including the writing of this column for 1819 News – is because I am an American. That is the greatest privilege and transcends all others.
My grammar school education only reinforced this. Long after the bicentennial, my instructor, Mr. Parham, took the time to lay out American history in a most unique way. Mr. Parham split his history lessons between American history and black history, laying out the landscape and foundation about our country’s formation by all the patriots, not just the glossy ones. Mr. Parham first made history accessible, and then he made it applicable, causing me to ask, “What does this mean for my life today?”
That was in the late 1970s, post-Vietnam and post-Watergate, but there was nothing in Mr. Parham’s teaching of history that pushed a narrative, exhibited bitterness against the country, or declared America to be in decline. Mr. Parham taught history in a way that enabled us to see ourselves in the context of the American story, securing our knowledge that we were a pivotal part of shaping its future.
From what I understand of modern education, we have traded American history for multiculturalism, which teaches nothing but a polyglot of other ideas rooted in different cultures which have no context to the American story. This is why you are seeing the rise of Democratic socialists and a generation that has no concept of the connection many of us have to America and the American dream.
My congressman, U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville), has been a part of the America250 Commission overseeing the creation of a time capsule of American history for future generations. Aderholt wrote in 1819 News:
For a decade, we have worked to help Americans celebrate our history, learn from our past, and reflect on the future of this great country.
But of all the projects planned for America's 250th birthday, the time capsules may be the one that prompts the most important question: What are we truly leaving behind?
That’s a crucial question.
According to the Associated Press, not every American feels as I do about our nation’s big birthday.
But as the celebrations begin, many Americans also feel indifferent or conflicted about celebrating the country. Other Gallup polling shows that most Americans now feel the signers of the Declaration of Independence would be disappointed with how the U.S. has turned out, a substantial increase from 25 years ago.
To no one’s surprise, older Americans – which now include me – and most Republicans feel proud and excited to be a part of America 250, while Independents and Democrats feel less so. This shows that some people love their politics more than they love their country. This attitude should neither be emulated nor passed on to the next generation, especially if we desire America to make it to another milestone celebration.
In the future, will another nine-year-old get to celebrate America with the same joy, anticipation and understanding, knowing that they are a pivotal part of a great story and the continuation of a great nation? Years from now, will we even be celebrating, or will the socialist forces which seek to undermine and erode our nation succeed?
So, today, I will embrace and delight in this milestone celebration of America 250, celebrating the blessings of liberty that have given me the great life I now enjoy. My acquisition and continual pursuit of the American dream exemplifies my secure place and legacy in the American tapestry.
But as my part in the American story goes forward, my aim is to work to influence the direction of this nation. To safeguard and educate on our constitutional republic through my writing, my voice, and my vote. I want a nine-year-old today to have the same opportunity I have to one day celebrate “America 300” with the same fervor and understanding, knowing that their story is an American one and that they are a pivotal part of this great American nation.
Happy 250!
