fourth of july
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Sorry, White America, But All Holidays Matter
Today is July 4th, a.k.a Independence Day, a.k.a ID4, according to the seminal 1996 film. A day commemorating when some white dudes won their valiant fight to stop paying taxes to some other group of white dudes. For over 240 years, America has taken to grand fireworks displays, cookouts and a solid run of Will…
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Descendants of Frederick Douglass Mark July 4th by Reciting His Famous Speech That Is as True as Ever
While Frederick Douglass would probably be disappointed (but not surprised) that the so-called land of the free hasn’t lived up to its promises of liberty all even centuries after he delivered his rousing speech, “What to the Slave Is The Fourth of July,” I imagine that he would be proud to see his descendants continuing…
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The President’s Personal Fourth of July Party Has Bankrupted D.C.’s Security Fund
Remember just a few weeks ago when the president planned a “my dicktatorship is bigger than yours” July Fourth event in which he wanted tanks and jets and sparklers and shit? Well, it sounds like that whole thing has bankrupted the Washington, D.C., security fund as they have spent some $1.7 million reserved for protecting the…
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America the Beautiful, America the Cruel
The Fourth of July, or the Fourth of You Lie as we black folks like to call it, is here again. And we’ll be inundated with bold-faced lies about American exceptionalism. You’ll hear it from television commentators. From politicians. From dudes wearing a red, white and blue t-shirt…made in China. They’ll talk about how we’re…
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We Said What We Said: 10 Things The Root Wrote About America
In the 10-plus years since The Root was founded, our writers have always celebrated the Fourth of July with the knowledge that America’s original Independence Day celebration only applied to white men. Since then, this land of freedom and opportunity has graciously allowed its black citizens incremental but not-quite-full access to liberty and justice through…
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#BoycottTrump4thOfJuly Trends 1 Day Before Trump’s Yuuuge Plans to Hijack the National Holiday
U.S. presidents traditionally have been hands-off when it comes to the Fourth of July so as to avoid politicizing commemorations of the nation’s birth. But not Donald Trump, whose decision to insert himself in Washington, D.C.’s annual celebration with a speech at the Lincoln Memorial and an elaborate display of military might had the hashtag…
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Nike Drops Sneaker Featuring Betsy Ross Flag After Colin Kaepernick Is Said to Complain It Invokes Slavery
Just in time for the Fourth of July comes a report that Nike yanked a sneaker embellished with a Betsy Ross flag after NFL footballer-turned-activist Colin Kaepernick complained the image conjured up slavery and all its ills. According to the Wall Street Journal, which attributes its story to “people familiar with the matter,” Nike’s Air…
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‘America’s Dicktator’ Now Wants Tanks and a VIP Section to Destroy the 4th of July Celebration
President Donald Trump still doesn’t understand how democracy works. He doesn’t understand that just because Russia stole the 2016 presidential election and handed it to him that he can’t punish the press just because they don’t write favorable stories about his cow pie-esque administration, and that he can’t kill people unless it’s on foreign soil…
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Twitter Users Offer US Ambassador Nikki Haley Some Cheese With Her Whine
Poor U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. She had to work on the Fourth of July, and she wasn’t happy about it. Haley’s tweet was posted after North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile that scientists say could have reached Alaska. So there is that. Haley didn’t understand why keeping America safe had…
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Watch: ‘No Country for Me’
Two hundred and forty-one years ago, America gained its independence from Britain. Since then, July 4 has been celebrated with American flags, parades, fireworks and barbecues. The word “freedom” is often associated with the day. But freedom for all under the red-white-and-blue flag is a myth. When the Declaration of Independence was signed, it would…