Happy Birthday America!

What a strange time to be celebrating America’s 250^th birthday. Many of us aren’t in the mood for a party. The American promise seems further away than ever right now. While it may seem bizarre for the country to be so obsessed with the disaster at the Reflecting Pool considering everything else going on in the world, I get it: it just encapsulates the state of the country right now. Yet did our 200^th birthday come at a better time? I was a teenager living in a small town, so a lot of the turmoil in the run up to the Bicentennial admittedly passed me right on by at the time, but I was old enough and aware enough to know that President Ford was nervous about being the “host” of such a momentous celebration, and there was a lot at stake. He had reason for concern. The country had seen years of tumult in the wake of the Vietnam war. Watergate had shaken our core belief in the executive office, and Ford’s pardoning of Nixon, meant to put it behind us, only deepened the distrust brewing in the populace. Add to these issues, race and gender disparity were still – as always – at issue. Yet, preparations went forward despite all of that, or maybe even due to all of that, because we really needed a party.

As big time American events go, it was relatively understated. There were some nationwide, largescale celebrations commemorating the Bicentennial, but most of the events were localized celebrations, keeping the focus on the sense of community and allowing everyone a chance to celebrate, not just those who could afford or were able to travel. The nation by and large did seem to embrace the moment as a chance to celebrate and come back together, if only for a time.

There were protests that took place on July 4^th as a counter to the celebrations. Our imperfections were not set aside even for the day. Nor should they have been. Part of America’s great potential is in the possibility that its citizens will instigate change for the betterment of all of us. That shouldn’t take a day off. Yet, overall, I think both celebrations and protests showed that America at 200 was still a worthwhile concept.

And say what you will about Gerald Ford, he played the moment well. He kept the focus off himself, while still showing up and supporting celebrations, including visiting Boston’s Old North Church in 1975 where two lanterns were lit to commemorate the beginning of the revolution. He rode on a covered wagon as part of the Bicentennial Wagon Train, but he did those things as a duty to the nation, not to laud himself. The country was the focus, not the man.

Fifty years older, is America still worthy of a celebration? Is democracy even still alive to celebrate? Or have we passed the point of no return on the American experiment? I choose to believe we haven’t, and that we can work together to take the country back in a direction that it should be going. For my part, I’ll be spending the day with my grands at our local township’s celebration, hoping that they catch the spirit of community, like so many of us did back in 1976. I’ll be remembering it’s their future we’re working towards, so that’s why the health of this old girl, America, is worth the fight.