The Fourth of July: Unity and Division in America

The Fourth of July: Yesterday’s Unity, Today’s Uncertainty

I’ve celebrated the Fourth of July for as long as I can remember. In grade school, our classrooms were decorated with red, white, and blue. Flags hung from the walls, and teachers handed out themed activities to help us understand the holiday. As I grew older, I learned more about its significance – and for those outside the United States, here’s the brief history I was taught.

What the Fourth of July Is

July 4th is America’s Independence Day – the date in 1776 when the colonies declared independence from Great Britain. It wasn’t the end of the war or the moment freedom was achieved. It was the moment the idea of America was officially claimed.

At its core, the holiday represents:

Founding ideals: freedom, self-governance, individual rights
Revolution
National identity
The birth of a country

But growing up, those ideals weren’t what the holiday meant to me – or to most Americans. We associated the day with:

Fireworks
Barbecues
No school
Music
Summertime
Red, white, and blue

It was fun, loud, simple, and unified.

How We Were Taught in the 80s and 90s

In my childhood, July 4th was presented as:

A celebration of unity
A story of heroes and courage
A symbol of American exceptionalism
A reminder that freedom was simple and pure
A holiday everyone agreed on

Teachers didn’t claim America was perfect – but they taught it as good, strong, and worth believing in. The flag meant one thing. The anthem meant one thing. The idea of America meant one thing. Even if people disagreed politically, July 4th was a day where everyone stood on the same side of the street watching the same parade.

Today: A Different America

Now, in our current state of affairs – political division, greed, hate – it’s hard to feel unified. We have a President who disparages immigrants, attacks national institutions, and uses social media to divide rather than unite. Instead of celebrating the country, he celebrates himself.

My thirteen-year-old daughter is growing up in a world where:

Patriotism is politicized
The flag means different things to different groups
The founding story is taught with contradictions included
Social media amplifies every flaw and conflict
National pride is tied to political identity, not shared identity
People argue about what America is and what America should be
July 4th is celebrated by some, criticized by others

Kids today don’t learn patriotism in a unified country – they learn it in a divided one. I grew up with fireworks and pride; she grows up with fireworks and discourse.

A Loss of Shared Meaning

And who can blame them? Many of us who were taught the same patriotic story have shifted our views. We were told America cared about us, valued our culture, welcomed our families – yet today, people are told “Go back to your country,” even when their families have served this nation for generations.

My wife is Salvadorian. My grandparents were Mexican. My grandfather fought in World War II. My father and uncles served in the reserves. Yet the rhetoric we hear today makes their service feel invisible.

We’re living in a country where:

People don’t agree on what the flag stands for
People don’t agree on what freedom means
People don’t agree on what America represents
People don’t agree on whether patriotism is noble or naive
People don’t agree on the story of the nation itself

I’m grateful to live in America. I appreciate the freedoms I have – for now. But we are flawed. We are young. We are still learning who we are.

Patriotism as a Battleground

I grew up in a country that taught patriotism as a shared identity. My daughter is growing up in a country where patriotism is a battleground.

We have a President who skirts laws, acts without remorse, and shows little empathy or respect for the people he governs. We were taught the President was important – a symbol of stability – yet this presidency has forced many to rethink how fragile our rights truly are.

How can we feel unified when the government acts against its own people? When leaders distort the truth? When migrants – the very people who built this country – are treated as enemies? When Native Americans, the first Americans, are still mistreated today?

How can we be patriots when we treat people this way? We can’t.

If We Want Patriotism Back

If we want to return to the roots of this holiday – unity, pride, shared identity – we must give an honest assessment of who we are:

Our flaws
Our progress
Our failures
Our potential

Only when America looks in the mirror can we begin to grow, change, and rebuild a sense of pride.

I don’t hate America. I believe it’s a great country. But I won’t say it’s the best – not when we continue to repeat history and ignore the lessons right in front of us.

I’m hopeful, but I’m also realistic. I don’t know what this country will look like in one year, five years, ten years, or decades from now if we continue on this course.

What Kids Learn Today

My daughter’s generation is taught:

Patriotism is a choice, not an obligation
Loving your country can include criticizing it
Civic engagement matters more than flag-waving
Democracy requires participation, not just pride
National identity is complicated and evolving

My generation was taught patriotism first, history second. Her generation is taught history first – and patriotism if it fits.

This isn’t anti-American. It isn’t unpatriotic. Kids today are simply more aware – and they should be.

A Word on Fireworks

Celebrate – but be careful. Fireworks send 13,000 people to emergency rooms every year. 1,300 injuries come from sparklers alone. Sparklers burn at 2,000°F, hot enough to melt metal. They cause hundreds of ER visits annually.

Teens and kids are the most likely to get hurt. Hands, faces, and eyes take the brunt of the damage. Burns are the most common injury.

In the End

Enjoy the day. Be safe. Remember why we celebrate – and don’t take it for granted. To many, it’s just a day off. But it’s meant to be a day of significance, a reminder of who we are and who we hope to become.

The Fourth of July is uniquely American – loud, proud, complicated, and evolving. Maybe someday, we’ll find our way back to celebrating it together again.