EVERY YEAR MORE and more people refuse to participate in certain public holidays because they can no longer ignore the exploitative and oppressive origins.
For example, plenty of Americans refuse to acknowledge the existence of Columbus Day and Thanksgiving because they are holidays that essentially celebrate invading a country and wiping out its indigenous population.
Many African Americans have always understood the hypocrisy of celebrating Independence Day on the 4th of July.
The Declaration of Independence was signed by congress in 1776. Slavery was legal for a further 90 years after this and sharecropping and the institutions that later replaced slavery have shaped a society that is still deeply unequal for black citizens.
Frederick Douglass was a former slave who later became a social-reformer. He wrote a famous speech called “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?“, which questions what exactly African Americans have to celebrate on Independence Day.
The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me [...] This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.
People are well aware of the fact that not everyone in the United States is free or equal.
Because of this hypocrisy, they’ve decided to spend Independence Day celebrating something else. Conveniently, Malia Obama, an intelligent young African American woman and daughter of ex-president Barack Obama happened to be born on the 4th of July. 4th of July is now officially Malia Obama Day.
Chance The Rapper even shared a tweet acknowledging it, which was retweeted 100,000+ times and received over 230,000 likes. Everybody was pretty into the idea.
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One person made a cake for the special occasion.
Even Teen Vogue got in on the Malia Obama celebrations.
If you’re having trouble playing the video, you can watch it here.
Spare a thought for Barack’s other daughter Sasha who has yet to receive an official holiday.
