Just 10 days ago, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) overturned Roe v. Wade after nearly 50 years. Today is “Independence” day in this nation and with the wound of the SCOTUS decision, I’m feeling a lot of irony.
To me, the most ironic thing about Independence Day is that while the “Patriots”/ Puritans were fighting for equal representation, fair taxation, national self sufficiency and against colonialism, they were building that freedom while actively stealing freedom from Black, Indigenous and Mexican people. Once America gained its independence, they worked arduously to become the evil they fought against. This is an important lesson: What are we fighting for, privilege or justice? As we encounter an enemy or an oppressor, it’s important to ensure we don’t become the very evil we claim to abhor.
The idea of freedom and independence in the U.S. was co-constructed with principles of white supremacy enacted through enslavement, genocide and forced relocation. American freedom was “invented” in direct contrast to the lives of Black, enslaved people and by attempting to delegitimize Indigenous land sovereignty. While white Americans were writing subversive pamphlets like “Common Sense,” dumping tea into oceans as an act of civil disobedience, and protesting oppressive laws, policies and financial responsibilities for their independence, they were criminalizing and killing Black and Indigenous people for wanting the same things and engaging those same methods.
It was illegal for Black people to meet, read, or even talk about subversive topics (like being free, being able to vote, being paid for their work, to be considered full citizens), they were often quarantined to stop the spread of abolitionist information especially after the Nat Turner Insurrection.
Although we’re taught the “patriots” were heroic, and were justly fighting against oppressive structures, we don’t talk enough about how their desire for “justice,” was actually just a desire for privilege and power. The US fought against colonialism and imperialism ONLY TO BECOME one of the most pervasive colonizing forces in the world and the home of the modern empire. Just because we call them “territories” or “commonwealths” doesn’t make these endeavors any more colonial. It only makes this day more and more IRONIC.
The U.S. also played a major role in destabilizing Haiti after they declared freedom from their colonizers/enslavers. Rather than ensuring other similarly situated countries could have a pathway to freedom, America showed it’s true face and intention.
Privilege over justice looks like: (1) playing debt collector for France… when they themselves weren’t subjected to those conditions when they got their independence just 28 years before, (2) using Manifest Destiny to justify continued colonial pursuits and (3) starting the Mexican-American war to steal Texas, New Mexico, Arizona & more…
Americans were not concerned with oppressed and colonized people around the world, they worked to maintain those systems to strengthen their own power. In contrast, if you look at Haiti’s history, despite being bullied by the U.S., France and other international “humanitarian” organizations, they’ve worked to help many countries free themselves from their colonizer (aka justice versus privilege). Many countries in Latin America including Colombia 
, Venezuela 
, Ecuador 
even have red and blue in their flags to honor Haiti’s support for their independence. Haiti was the first country to recognize Greece’s independence as well… that’s a legacy of independence based in justice not privilege… so my Independence Day will always be January 1, 1804.
I feel a lot of things today, especially considering the U.S. Supreme Court is maintaining the precedents of the Puritans by stripping marginalized groups of the freedoms we’ve fought for in an attempt to protect privilege over justice.
Despite these CRT bans, we need to talk more about these roots if we want to undo them. We need to talk about these nuances or we’ll be hurt and disappointed when America does what it’s always done. We need to put down the legend of the U.S. and look critically at the ways history continues to repeat itself if we ever want to truly be free.