The 4th of July by Jay Goodman

Has anyone ever really thought about the 4th of July and the real meaning of why we celebrate it in America? Every
year I see how everyone breaks out the beer, the grill and party’s all day, which is ok, but has anyone took a serious
look at this holiday and what it stands for? Over the last seventeen years I’ve seen such a huge difference in how a
lot of Americans view our country. It was slow at first, I would hear people saying America is this or America is
that. I’ve seen how a lot of musicians, actors, Hollywood and news stations have spoken out against America. Athletes
as well, and even though it is their God given American right to speak out under the constitution, I have wondered if
they have thought about why they have freedom of speech. It seems like it’s become the cool thing to do with all the
people I named. It seems like every time I look at a news station other than Fox, they’re bad mouthing someone because
they don’t like how they look, or they don’t think the same as the one doing the bad mouthing. Athletes who get paid
crazy amounts of money to play a game have used their position to speak out against the very country who has given
them the opportunity to become multimillionaires or billionaires and while it’s their right to protest and have
freedom of speech, I cannot help but wonder if they realize that the wealth that they have made, their ability to
protest and speak freely would not have happened if it wasn’t for the Declaration of Independence that took place on
the 4th of July 1776. That piece of paper signed that day, gave every American citizen the right to pursue happiness,
whatever that happiness may be for each individual.

Our forefathers came from a country that was controlled by a king that is why they made our constitution the way it
is. We the American people have the power to choose who we want as our elected officials. They are not even in control
once elected, they are put in office to work for us, by the people, for the people, and one of the greatest things is
it’s set up where if we like the job they’re doing, we can vote them back into office and if we don’t we can vote them
out. Because of the way America was founded, every one of us is responsible for our own self. Our country is not run
by a dictator who tells you where you’re going to live or work. As Americans we get to choose what we get to do with
our lives, I have heard people say, America isn’t what people believes it is, that we always have been this racist
country, that some of our forefathers owned slaves and shouldn’t be in our history books. For those who believe this,
let me remind you of this, if it wasn’t for these men who wrote the constitution and the Declaration of Independence,
every man and woman in this country would not be able to be free to enjoy all of the beautiful opportunities that come
with living in this country. If everyone would take a moment and read the Declaration of Independence you would
quickly learn the greatness of this country and how lucky we are to live here. I have had the opportunity to travel a
lot in my life and even in some of the European countries which are really beautiful, they don’t have all of the
freedoms that we do in America. It seems like it’s become the norm these days for people to bad mouth our country. For
these people I say this, go to other countries, start speaking out against that county and watch what happens to you.
A good example, just this year we’ve seen thousands of Russian citizens arrested and beat for protesting against
Russia invading the Ukraine and these people will more than likely go to prison. Please think about this for a moment,
these people are not criminals, all they did was protest against something they felt was wrong. They were beat,
arrested and put in jail.

I have seen people protest everything you can imagine since I was born. I have watched people protest our wars,
police, government, the presidents, you name it, the American people have protested it, that is a freedom we have here
in this country, but it’s something that a lot of our citizens take for granted. Many other things Americans have
forgotten like our freedom of speech, I remember some years back, the people of North Korea were joking about their
leader, Kim Jong-un’s haircut, when he found out people had been laughing at him, he ordered every man in his country
had to get a haircut just like his, and if they didn’t, they would be arrested. I have listened to many African
Americans throughout the years talk about how this country isn’t worth a damn, that it’s nothing but a racist country
that has always held them back. When I have heard this, I cannot help but wonder if they understand why they are truly
free. Have they forgot that Abraham Lincoln freed them as slaves? Now when the south refused to free their slaves, the
civil war began, which was the deadliest war ever fought here. I have wondered if any of the African Americans realize
that tens of thousands of white men fought the South and died so they could be free. All of my life I have heard how
the white people are racist, but that is just not the fact. Are there racist white people? Yes, but are all whites
racist? No. I have lived with blacks for seventeen years, are there racist blacks? Yes. Are all African Americans
racist? No. Are there Hispanic, Asian, Indian’s that are racist? Yes, are all of them? No. So America needs to stop
judging everyone as a racist because of a few.

America is a wonderful country made up of many ethnic backgrounds and all of us together have contributed to this
country. This country was founded by great men who had a wonderful dream of all it’s people living free and being able
to live, go and become whatever they wanted. It was not founded by racist white men, but by visionaries who dreamed of
a country where all it’s people could be free to chase their dreams. The only thing that holds Americans back from
accomplishing their dreams is themselves. Look around this country today, I’ve been in damn near every state in
America and seen people from all over the world, who have come here and opened every kind of business you can think
of. I have seen Arabia, India, Korea, China, Japan, Africa, Mexico, Central and South America and every other country
you can think of, come here and live a wonderful life. If this is such a racist country, how did these people come
here and succeed? The 4th of July is a day that every single person in this country should celebrate with pride.