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Some of the nation’s largest corporations are joining forces with the White House to turn the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence this July 4 into a celebration of militarism and the mixing of church and state.
The group behind this effort is America250. Its nearly sixty corporate sponsors include Amazon, American Airlines, Boeing, BP, Chick-fil-A, Chrysler, Citibank, Coca-Cola, Comcast, Cummins, CVS, FedEx, Goldman Sachs, Hilton, John Deere, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorganChase, Lockheed Martin, Oracle, Palantir, Procter & Gamble, Starbucks, Target, and Walmart. Its leadership includes Kellyanne Conway, President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager and spokesperson, as well as an array of Trump administration Cabinet members.
America250’s mission, set forth on its website, says nothing about the growing gap between America’s billionaires and ordinary Americans, or about how the biggest corporations are making huge profits while working households struggle to make ends meet.
America250 is working closely with Freedom 250, an operation led by the White House that describes U.S. history as the history of its armed forces. The official White House website for Freedom 250 also includes a section called “America Prays” that highlights the theme that Christian Protestant faith has always been central to the country’s history. It urges U.S. citizens to “pray for our country and our people and rededicate ourselves as One Nation Under God.”
But this is not the only avenue we have as citizens to recognize July 4. We can, as an alternative, embrace the common future all of us share with other people and other living beings by celebrating July 4 as “Interdependence Day.”
For starters, our Interdependence Day celebrations can recall the radical assertion in the Declaration of Independence “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
In listing grievances against the King of England, the Declaration said that he had “made Judges dependent on his Will alone,” “sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people,” and “kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies.” It also said the king was guilty of “depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury” and “transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences.”
Interdependence Day can be a time to recognize that, while the Declaration’s assertions about unalienable rights were bold, they did not apply to everyone and are still in jeopardy today.
“All men,” as referred to in the Declaration, did not include women, who could not vote, hold public office, own property, enter most professions, or even serve on juries. It also did not include African Americans or Indigenous people.
Alternative Interdependence Day celebrations could include booths or workshops where community members can find out how to defend our constitutional rights and support worker and immigrant rights and other causes. They could also include teach-ins, film screenings, and other ways to learn about a different vision of globalization that benefits working people in all countries instead of just billionaires and big corporations.
Music, poetry, visual art, dance, food, and storytelling from a variety of cultural traditions can emphasize our diversity and our interconnectedness. Environmental groups can organize activities that highlight our interdependence when it comes to clean air and water and the impacts of climate change.
There’s no “one size fits all” formula for Interdependence Day celebrations. But one thing is for certain: The commemorations funded by big corporations and led by the White House will not be focused on the idea that all people “are created equal and endowed with unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
It will be up to our households and our communities to make this Interdependence Day more meaningful, inclusive, and fun.
This column was produced for Progressive Perspectives, a project of The Progressive magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service.