E pluribus unum

I have been a history/government/political science nerd my whole life. While other teens were watching (what were you watching? I don’t even know) I was watching NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw and rushing home from Wednesday night youth church activities to catch the new episode of The West Wing (still my all time favorite show, I’ve watched it through more times than I can count). I loved my high school AP History classes, my college history, sociology (my major), and political science (my minor, until I dropped it to graduate on time) classes. I have always loved this country and celebrated it with vigor. I’m the mom with the kids in the red, white, and blue outfits. But now, my heart hurts. There are a lot of things that have built over the last few years, and I won’t get into it because that is not the point of this post, but I feel my patriotism struggling. As the Fourth of July approaches, I just haven’t been feeling it. But throwing in the towel and just becoming bitter certainly didn’t feel right. I care about this country. I care about it becoming what it can be, working toward actually fulfilling its promise of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” for everyone, not just some. So many things are “broken”, but I can still love broken things. I feel I can work to listen when I need to, speak when I need to, and try to be the kind of American I know can make our country begin on the path to healing and justice. So I decided to think of how I could mark the 4th of July in a slightly different way — a way that fits what is needed right now, and a way that should have really been happening all along.

1) Talk about voting! Voting is going to be SO important in 2020 to turn the tone in our country away from aggression and bullying toward something more progressive and meaningful for everyone. White women fought for the vote. And then Black people fought for the unimpeded right to vote. There is so much history there, and the fight for suffrage is a lesson on just how important voting is. On Election Day 2012 I made little ballots for Carly for different choices throughout the day. That was a fun way to show kids how their vote matters. And if you aren’t registered to vote already, it’s the perfect time to do so.

2) Diversify the American experience. There are so many valuable American stories to tell outside of the traditional. I grabbed a few new books telling stories of children who immigrated to the US, one from Egypt and one from China. They celebrate the diversity that adds so much to what America means. The motto of the United States is E pluribus unum (you can show your kids the words on a coin or a dollar bill) and it means “Out of many, one.” America isn’t supposed to look just one way. Out of many skin tones and languages and beliefs, we are meant to be one. Inscribed on the Statue of Liberty is “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” I want my kids to know that that is what America should be.

3) Look outside the box for American history. We talk about Washington & Jefferson and Co all the time around the 4th, and this year I want to broaden the horizon when it comes to American history. There are so many women and people of color in our nation’s history that have overcome, achieved, and contributed to inspiring American history. I’ve decided to talk about a number of women this year. I found a gorgeous book called Herstory, and while it has women in history from around the world, I’m picking out a few Americans: Harriet Tubman, Katherine Johnson (I’ll be watching Hidden Figures with Carly too!), Rosa Parks, Rachel Carson, and Helen Keller. The Instagram page The American Moms also shares #WednesdaysWoman about women in American history, and Here Wee Read has a huge Amazon booklist with more options for Black men and women in U.S. history. Related to this, we are also celebrating Juneteenth for the first time this year. I listened to the First Name Basis podcast about it and highly recommend it to learn more, but Juneteenth really is when our country truly became the “land of the free.” Juneteenth and the Fourth of July can and should go hand in hand.

I was talking my wonderful husband's ear off about this and he said, "Its just like anything in life. If you don't admit to your mistakes and learn from them, you'll never get better." That is just it. Our country has its problems, but we have to face that history (and the present) head-on and teach it to the next generation, so we can all recognize it and see where we need to go. This 4th of July, I may feel a little different. There will still be red, white, and blue outfits, sparklers, BBQ, and fireworks (except not big fireworks, dang Covid), but I know there will be a sense of unfinished business. I hope we all feel that to a degree -- a feeling that there is still work to do.