Pride in America?

Are Americans Proud of America this 4th of July? It appears our country is divided on this question…

As many American businesses will do this week, we will celebrate our democracy on our infamous Fourth of July. We celebrate those things that we think make being an American great, especially our freedoms and rights. But right now we are among those Americans that aren’t feeling so great about America. It is hard to watch the news and have any Pride in America and its current policies.

Last month we focused on the origins of Pride Month and how that history helped make the Pride movement what it is today – a world that has begun to have a unified and progressive role in the global Pride Movement. Huge victories for LGBTQ rights, like marriage equality, have made us hopeful for the future, but we must make sure they don’t also make us complacent. It’s important to stay aware of the ways the LGBTQ community continues to be discriminated against, whether through laws, in the workplace, or just in our culture as a whole. Now the Supreme Court is in jeopardy of taking huge steps backwards regarding women’s rights and the “right to life.” Certainly, this puts LGBTQ rights at risk again too!

Now, as our 4th of July arrives, we feel American policies, counter everything our country has been founded on. We know there are those that completely disagree with our views and we acknowledge our views are biased. America is and always has been a country of immigrants. Immigrants founded our country and have always played an important role in the growth of America. The writer of this blog is a third-generation Jewish immigrant and knows that adds to our bias.

The Declaration of Independence, which we celebrate this week, illustrates how we declared our separation and subsequent immigration into the Americas – a land we didn’t know or own either.

“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

Our Constitution, written so many years ago, and at a very different time in global growth and technology, helped define how that separation would work and the laws that its citizens needed to follow.

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

We find ourselves looking at American Pride this 4th of July with sadness and shame in our hearts. We don’t feel “Great” about America or proud of its current policies. We are proud to support policies our current Administration appears to reject.

  • Being a Democracy
  • Being a Nation of Immigrants
  • Our Diversity and Ethnicity
  • Offering Amnesty to those in Need
  • Keeping Families Together
  • Protecting the Environment
  • Being a Caring Government for its People
  • Being a Caring Global Partner with other Nations

Any American who doesn’t remember that this country was born, grown and built by immigrants, should stop reading social media and read some history books. This 4th of July we ask all of our customers – Americans and those throughout the world – to join us in not only celebrating the 4th, but humanity and the power of the voice of the people.

Many challenges have been won in the past, and there is no room to move backwards. The voice of the people can move mountains, so we are focusing on and encouraging activism, whatever that means to each individual. There are many ways to get involved, help a cause, and make your voice heard. If you are an American, your greatest liberty and freedom is your right to vote. So please, VOTE!

Ps. We understand and accept that some of our customers may not agree with our point of view. As Americans we respect their right to disagree. We are not looking to change minds, but we are honestly concerned about the fate of the United States and its Democracy under the current Administration. We are exercising our right to freedom of speech on this 4th of July.

A FEW RESOURCES:

We support the efforts of IRC (International Rescue Committee)
and here are a few other resources and organizations we support too:

https://www.rescue.org/
https://front.moveon.org/
https://www.aclu.org/
https://www.domesticworkers.org

  • Side Note: our “#BUTTHEAD45 Contest unfortunately is still going. We won’t end it till the Big Guy sings!

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