When I was in elementary school in the 50s, we recited the Pledge of Allegiance every morning. Even back then something sounded a bit off to me although I couldn't have told you what. When my daughter was in the 8th grade (I think) they were going to say the Pledge and she came to me and said, "Mama, I can't do it. What do I do?" Giving it very little thought I realized she was having the sane questions I had had years before. I suggested she say the Pledge to the country as envisioned by so many good people: people, like her father, who marched for Civil Rights; people, like her grandfather, who fought in WWII; people, like her other grandfather, who defended a black man in the white courts of the South in the 30s; people of all times and races who knew that there wasn't liberty and justice for all yet ~ and there could be!
We aren't there yet. In many ways we are slipping back from where we were even when she struggled with what to say. Racism is rampant. LBGTQ folks struggle with acceptance of their identity. Immigration policy is chaotic with no sense of it being about human beings. We still have a problem with seeing the other as the same as we are. The right to vote is just now being restricted in such a way as to block people of color and economic diversity when every citizen should have access to a ballot and a way to make their voice heard.
I may be disappointed and I am hopeful. White police who murder black citizens are finally being brought to account in the courts. Same sex couples are finally allowed to marry and adopt children. Women are finally being heard when they speak out about consent.
I continue to be optimistic that one day, in this amazing country where the struggle continues, there will indeed be liberty and justice for all. So - on that note, I wish you all a happy 4th of July!
