Why We Need to Move Forward with Hope on Our Nation's Birthday

I remember the U.S. Bicentennial very well.  The Semiquincentennial this year (Who even knew that was a word!) is nothing like it.

For years leading up to the Bicentennial, patriotic fervor and nostalgia were high.  Every girl in my high school had at least one "prairie dress" – a long, gathered skirt, often in a floral pattern featuring red, white, and blue.  I remember the quilt on my bed – it was also red, white, and blue.  "Early American" furniture and décor had been popular for quite a while.  We had Bicentennial quarters, commemorative stamps, a special Bicentennial license plate on the car, and the nightly "Bicentennial Minutes" on CBS-TV.

I also remember reading about the Bicentennial Wagon Train that started in Washington State and traveled across the country to arrive at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania on July 4th.  There was a televised armada of tall ships that sailed from New York to Boston.  My family visited my aunt and uncle who lived in Orange, California so we could go to Disneyland on July 4th.  I'll never forget the America on Parade and the spectacular fireworks.

Looking back and moving forward

This year's Semiquincentennial (meaning "half of five hundred") commemoration should be a big deal, but it doesn't seem to be.

A lot of things don't survive 250 years.  But even more than a remembrance of our founding document, this is a time to think about our country as a nation – our accomplishments and dreams, but also the ideals that remain to be realized as we move forward.

The Bicentennial year of 1976 was pivotal.  We were emerging from the Vietnam and Watergate eras.  The president, Gerald Ford, was an anomaly – a man who occupied the Oval Office without having been elected as either president or vice president, but who represented the resilience of the American system.

It was a different culture, too.  My home held a rotary phone, an encyclopedia set that filled an entire shelf, and one boxy television with "rabbit ear" antennae.  I handwrote letters, read physical library books, and typed on my mom's portable Smith Corona electric typewriter.

The Semiquincentennial arrives in a nation that is more politically and culturally fragmented than it was 50 years ago.  We don't even watch the same TV shows or view the same news stories our neighbors do.  We participate in a vast digital world that would have been unimaginable in 1976, and while we're more connected, we're also more divided.

Still, 250 years is a milestone.  It reminds us that history is more than dates – it's a procession of people and events that shape us and leave a lasting impact.  It reminds us that we still need to work at living up to the values and beliefs stated in our Declaration of Independence:

• that all men (all people!) are created equal
• that government should derive its power from the consent of the governed
• that it is the duty of government to protect the rights, welfare, and happiness of the governed
• that judges should be independent of political power and coercion
• that taxes should be levied fairly, equally, and for the benefit of all
• that the power of the military should be limited, especially over citizens and civil law
• that immigration should be encouraged
• that peace and cooperation should be sought between all people

(If you don't think these ideals are contained in the Declaration, you should read it.)

Marking two-and-a-half centuries doesn't seem to have the same widespread excitement and participation that the Bicentennial had, which is sad.  Our apathy says something about how splintered we are as a society, and how preoccupied we are with other things.  Or maybe we're just not feeling very celebratory these days.  There's not a lot to be proud of as a nation, even though they tried to recapture the thrill of the Apollo era with Artemis.

But this isn't simply a look back.  It should also be a look forward that asks us to imagine what kind of nation we hope to build and what legacy we want to leave.  Will the middle class still exist, or will there only be a few rich rulers and millions of exploited workers?  Will the concept of individual rights be upheld, or will women, people of color, LGBTQ persons, immigrants, and others be assigned a diminished status?

I won't be around for the Tricentennial that I hope will occur in 2076, but I'd love for my grandchildren and great-grandchildren to have something to celebrate and be thankful for.  May we face forward and continue our journey toward a more perfect union.