The 4th of You Lie

An essay makes the point that "independence" and "freedom" don't necessarily mean the same things to America's first inhabitants.

"The 4th of You Lie" by Jimmie Beason (Osage/Mvskoke)Every year on the 4th of You Lie (July), patriotic Americans engage in their multiple colored foray of pyromania by blowing up fireworks to celebrate the birth of the United Snakes.

This is appropriate as it's a metaphor for Indigenous genocide. The fuse of colonization was lit and exploded with Manifest Destiny and conquest ripping through OUR freedom; a true Freedom that existed for thousands of years before the European invasion of our continent.

Amerikkka's policies toward us have done nothing to help, only to destroy. Treaties were made and signed with the "utmost honor" only to be broken. In 1492, it is estimated that 5 million Native people inhabited the Western Hemisphere. By the 1800's our population was reduced to 600,000. At the end of the 19th century--250,000.Comment:  An op-ed piece in the LA Times claims the "Declaration of Independence's vision endures." I can't argue with that. As specified in the Declaration, the threat of "merciless savages" has been a guiding force throughout US history. It's responsible for the genocide of Native Americans, slavery and its continuation until the Civil War, Jim Crow laws against minorities, prejudice and hate against immigrants, isolationism and xenophobia, the red scare and the nuclear arms race, and the Vietnam War.

It's still responsible for much: our paltry foreign-aid budget and colossal military budget, our anti-immigration hysteria, our war on drugs and drug users, our fear of homosexuals with their "lifestyle" and "agenda," our disdain for "welfare queens" and "gangsta rappers"--indeed, for any minorities (e.g., Jeremiah Wright, Michelle Obama) who don't play by the white man's rules. Not to mention the Bush administration's promotion of torture, the Guantánamo Bay concentration camp, the illegal invasion of Iraq, the phony war on terrorism, and the ongoing violation of our constitutional rights.

Yep, it's good to know so many of our present policies are based on the Puritans' self-righteous certainty of their superiority over everyone, especially the Indians. That vision of a white male Christian dominion over the world endures. So let's all raise a glass and toast another glorious 4th of July.

Old vision:





New vision:





Old vision = new vision: