As we approach Independence Day for the United States (1776), I am thinking about my life as a Black woman in the United States, whose family history exemplifies the hypocrisy that I have come to accept as the lived experience of Americans. For example, we celebrate Independence Day, when the Continental Congress declared the 13 American colonies independent from Great Britain. Yet, at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, all 13 colonies allowed slavery and benefited from the free labor of the imported Africans for 157 years. Oh, the hypocrisy that is America.
Freedom and Opportunity
I am thinking about the Morrill Act of 1862, which provided land for public land grant universities to teach practical skills and democratize higher education, thereby expanding access to a college education for more Americans (males). Yet, there were no funds available until 1890 for the creation of institutions for Negroes in segregationist states, the Morrill Act of 1890. The ratification of the 13th Amendment, which granted freedom to my ancestors and allowed me to be born a “free Negro,” had not taken place, so there was no need to use public dollars to educate slaves.
I am thinking about my father ( Ralph, son of a sharecropper) and mother (Betty, whose complexion reflects the complicated sexual history between Indigenous American women and White and Black men) who left Macclesfield and Clarkton, North Carolina,( respectively) for a better life in Manhattan, New York, only to be denied the opportunity to purchase a home on Long Island, despite the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. When a white coworker questioned my father’s desire not to rear me in an apartment, he responded, “Do you think I do not want the best for my daughter as you want for yours?”
So, I grew up in Henrico County, Virginia, where my parents could purchase a home. I started the second grade at Laburnum Elementary School in 1972, three years after Henrico County desegregated (1969). Yep, 15 years after Brown v. Board of Education and four years after Greene v. New Kent ruled that “freedom of choice” was not acceptable to justify segregated schools. The Greene decision led to the “Green factors” for evaluating compliance with the Brown decision.
I am thinking about Bakke v. Regents of the University of California, which allowed race to be considered a factor in admissions and the subsequent challenges. I am grateful for the educators who encouraged me to think critically about narratives that questioned the worthiness of Black and Hispanic students accepted to competitive higher education institutions without questioning the acceptance of white legacy admits at the same institutions.
I am thinking about the Voting Act of 1965, Title IX, and Roe v. Wade, which removed barriers to my ability to exercise freedoms related to democratic participation, education, and reproductive health. I am saddened by the voters who support legislators who restrict the freedoms provided by these laws.
Nothing new under the sun
All this thinking can make me feel less hopeful about America’s future. When this happens, I remind myself there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
- I remind myself that banning immigration and visits from particular countries is not new — The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
- I remind myself that questioning who is a citizen is not new — the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924.
- I remind myself that detaining American citizens or permanent residents is not new — the Internment of Japanese Americans.
- I remind myself that the assassination of politicians and advocates for civil rights is not new (see List of slain civil rights leaders).
- I remind myself that Federal budgets and policies that exclude segments of Americans are not new — Dread Scott and the New Deal.
- I remind myself that work requirements for social safety net benefits are not new— the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act.
I remind myself that I, people, things, legislation, and America can be both good and flawed. So, if the “Big Beautiful Bill” passes by July 4 (or when it passes), remember to celebrate the good and advocate and organize to minimize the consequences of the flawed portions of the legislation.
