I’m a Black American—Here’s Why I’m Not Celebrating the 4th of July

When I was growing up in the late 1970s, I didn’t learn the full truth about America’s history from my teachers. Back then, you only got bits and pieces of America’s past. It wasn’t until college that I became more informed. When the Declaration of Independence was signed, many Black people were still enslaved, and they continued to be used as property for the gain of plantation owners for many years afterward.

When you think of how those in power controlled and manipulated the mindsets of the enslaved for material gain, it’s sickening and disheartening. So while the government said that all men were created equal, the reality was that the state of the nation was only being changed for certain people. For that reason, the 4th of July has always been complicated for me—and its history is exactly why I’m not celebrating the 4th of July this year or any other.

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After completing law school and becoming a mother, my perspective changed altogether. While I used to support and go along with all the traditions associated with the American flag, “The Star-Spangled Banner” and traditional American festivities and customs, now I no longer find the holiday of any real value to me and my family.

When I think of the racist lyrics of the third verse of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which states, “No refuge could save the hireling and slave, from the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave, and the star-spangled banner in triumph we wave, o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave,” I can’t associate with those ideals.

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In our home, we replace the 4th of July with Juneteenth. It used to be very regional, with Southern states and towns taking it on as their own for many, many years. Now it has expanded, and I think it’s really cool that Black Americans have adopted their own independence day.

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In the context of celebrating American history, I believe the 4th of July represents an incomplete history. It doesn’t reflect the full truth about Black Americans at the time the Declaration of Independence was signed. Without holidays like Juneteenth that celebrate the real experiences of Black people, American history is incomplete. You cannot even make a logical story without it, because Black people’s enslavement and labor was such an integral part of building our society and our economy. This history is embedded in literally everything—from the Constitution to our day-to-day life, local laws and ordinances—and so much wouldn’t make sense to someone who wasn’t familiar with America’s history.

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