July 4th? Sorry . . . My Independence Day isn’t until December!

Today, a friend of more than 40 years texted me "Wishing you a safe and happy 4th of July!" followed by six American flag emojis and six celebratory horn-blowing emojis.

I texted back, "Same to you (although I don't know when you got so damn patriotic.)"

His response? "I just learned about emojis. Yay, me!"

His answer satisfied my curiosity. He used the 4th of July like many African-Americans (and quite a few non-African-Americans)  use it  . . . as an excuse to do something else they want to do -- get off work, barbecue in the backyard, have a family reunion (because it's a three-day holiday and it allows out-of-town relatives travel time), or simply to practice sending out emojis.

I do know a few African-Americans who actually celebrate Independence Day with flag waving and parade watching, but very few. When asked (because, you know, I have to ask) why they're celebrating they usually answer that America's a great country, and they're proud to be an American.

I'm never quite sure how to respond without launching into a lecture that I'm quite sure they don't want to hear.

But here it is.

If you're Black, and grateful and proud to be an American that's all cool and dandy, but why are you celebrating the independence of a country that kept you enslaved while declaring their own right to be free?

I mean, let's be clear . . . if there is any date that Black folks should be celebrating as Independence Day, it should be December 18th. That's the day, in 1865, that the Thirteenth Amendment was issued, outlawing slavery.

Oh . . . you thought Lincoln freed the slaves with his Emancipation Proclamation . .!

No. He only freed the slaves in the rebelling Southern states, just to further piss them off.

It was simply a war measure, not a measure of the Nation's compassion or conscience.

Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware, parts of Virginia and even parts of Louisiana were allowed to keep right on doing what they were doing - practicing slavery.

So, yeah, while I understand some African-Americans are proud to be an American, and/or want to serve it in some manner (I fall into the latter category, having served in the U. S. Navy for five years. Yay, me!), I just don't understand celebrating an Independence Day that not only is NOT mine, but also celebrating the document that is at the heart of the holiday -- The Declaration of Independence. A document that opens with the words "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. 

My men, my race, weren't considered equal. Our right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness wasn't recognized. The fact is there were 500,000 Blacks being held as slaves as the document was being signed

So no offense, but while I don't mind using the 4th of July as an excuse for a paid day off from work (much as many whites use the MLK holiday), I will reserve my celebration of Independence Day for another five  months 

Falling Back to Black

Category: Commentary Posted by: Donnell

ABOVE PHOTO: Bill Cosby (Randy Miramontez / Shutterstock.com)

By Karen E. Quinones Miller

This whole Bill Cosby situation has me remembering witnessing a one-car accident in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia back in 1993. 

I was the first one on the scene and helped a well-dressed African American woman out of the car–she had run into a lamppost. 

She clung to me for a moment, and since she didn’t seem hurt, I asked if she needed to use my cell phone. Before she could answer, a group of concerned white people came rushing over to assist, and the African American woman pushed me away so hard and fast I almost fell as she rushed to meet them. 

A little hurt, but much more befuddled, I got back in my car and watched the unfolding scene. 

The group momentarily crowded around her, breathing concern and offers of assistance, but as they realized what I had already ascertained — that the woman was drunk — they slowly peeled away until she was alone. 

She then staggered over to my car, and I let her in, once again offering my phone so she could call for help. After she called her husband, she said she didn’t want to “bad talk white folks,” but my not abandoning her proved that Black people know how to stick together. 

I was so pissed I could have hit her. 

Instead, I told her I had to leave so she’d have to wait outside for her husband and the tow truck. 

It gave me great satisfaction that just as I pulled away it started to pour down rain. 

A couple of years later, when O. J. Simpson was acquitted of killing his wife and Ron Goldman, I remembered that woman and that incident. 

And now, as Bill Cosby makes his appeal to the “Black media,” I’m remembering it again.

I think it is interesting that Cosby has asked the Black media to stay “neutral” regarding the sexual abuse allegations being made against him. Not objective. Neutral.

There is a big difference between neutral and objective. As a wordsmith, I know the difference…and I’m sure Bill Cosby does, too.

During World War II, Switzerland remained neutral. They didn’t join either the Allied or the Axis forces. They didn’t want to choose sides. They wanted to stay out of it; to stay neutral. 

Even when the human atrocities being committed by Hitler and the Nazis came to light, the Swiss continued to be their banker and their vault. In fact, after the war many Jews had to appeal to the Swiss government for the return of their artwork, heirlooms, and personal treasure. 

So, really, the Swiss actually profited from their neutrality. 

To be a neutral journalist means not caring who is right or wrong. 

To be an objective journalist – on the other hand — means not letting your personal biases affect you as you write about what is going on, or blind you as you seek the truth. 

It also means then presenting that truth in a fair and balanced manner.

So, this Black member of the media will not be staying neutral… can’t stay something I never was. 

But I will always strive to be objective. No one should expect me to be more.