Last evening – that of July 4th, 2025 – there gathered on the field and in the bleachers at Fairfax High School, in northern Virginia, thousands of people to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The (fulfilled) promise of a spectacular fireworks display no doubt attracted many, as did the live music and many food trucks.
I have no idea how many of these people were conversant with the words of the Declaration, or with the classical-liberal principles that those words convey. But there we all were, peacefully enjoying ourselves.
A not-insignificant number of these individuals were literally wrapped in American flags. Notably, only a minority of these people look like descendants of Mayflower passengers or of the cavaliers who were so prominent in Virginia’s early history. South asians. East asians. Middle Easterners. Blacks. Hispanics – lots of hispanics.
I’m no great fan of nationalism (to put it mildly). But I couldn’t help but feel some pride that, at least in our private capacities, we Americans overwhelmingly not only get along, but enjoy each other’s company. I observed no one poorly treating anyone whose skin was darker than Thomas Jefferson’s or whose accent revealed a birth place other than the U.S.A. I observed no one wishing to distance himself or herself from a fellow human being who was more likely reared in Mexico or India than in Michigan or Indiana.
People of different hues, native languages, religions, and (no doubt) political convictions and sensibilities joined together for a Fourth of July celebration. And, I’m sure, that what went on last evening in Fairfax went on throughout this land.
From where comes this loathsome urge – dominant today in official government policy – to deport or otherwise harass people whose only ‘crime’ is to wish to live in the land that Americans boast is that of the free? People who, outside of politics, mix and mingle and serve each other peacefully and to our mutual economic and cultural advantage?
When will this politics-fueled madness end?
