We've been discussing Independence Day alternatives mostly just for fun, but there are more serious reasons to consider alternative celebrations on this day. Though conditions have improved, our country has long been dominated by white men and their values. To celebrate an independence day that occurred years before slaves were freed and women could vote is to celebrate an independence that was not inclusive.

Our society has made significant progress in 232 years, but we still have far to go. Whether it's sexist publication standards, child marriage, or hostage situations, immigration reform, or that pesky little war we're in, there are scores of issues (of varying levels of severity) around the world that still merit serious attention.

On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass gave a speech about Independence Day. Though he was, of course, addressing slavery specifically, some of his words ring true today in reference to other evils:

I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn...

Fellow-citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them...

What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy--a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour.

Obviously, Douglass was speaking in a much less equal time than the present. We've made incredible progress since then in many areas, and we should certainly celebrate those accomplishments. However, we should never forget that many people around the world lack many of the freedoms we possess. And even within our own country, too many people are suffering.

So, today, celebrate the freedom you have--but don't forget about those who have less.

Image tagged Bostonist by sandcastlematt