Oppression is said to much..but not enough

The 4^th of July weekend is one of my favorites of the year. My family always travels up north and goes camping with friends; it is a day celebrated with hot dogs, burgers, lemonade, Frisbees, sand castles, and fireworks. Sure, my family celebrates it in honor of liberty, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, other old white men in powdered wigs, and how grateful we are to have independence but to be honest, my parents celebrate it more for the fact that they are in a country that has provided them and their children with better opportunities.  Emigrating almost 30 years ago from Taiwan, they have roots in two countries, history in both, and are purely happy with the great things America has had to offer. 

I was born in America but I’m Taiwanese-American. Not just plain American. Optimistically though, I am a first-generation so there is still hope for those to come after me. Many of the Blacks (African-American is not politically correct) in the U.S. have been here for 300 years yet more often than not, they too are not simply called Americans.  

The 4^th of July is not simply a day of independence, it’s more than that. Yes, it is a day of celebration for freedom but also for equality, and for the greater things this country has offered. On the surface, the 4^th of July seems like a day filled with patriotism, liberty, and equality. In reality however, the consequences were much greater. When the U.S. broke away from Great Britain, whites had a new sense of independence but this independence enslaved Native Americans and African-Americans.

Native Americans had their homes taken from them and destroyed, condemned by the white settlers, their freedom was gone. I highly doubt Sherman Alexie enjoyed the 4^th of July and sat on a reservation and had a cookout with his neighbors.

While women were advocating for equal rights in the 1800’s, they were oppressing their slaves just as men had treated them.  

A never ending circle of oppression in the U.S. began.  

Christianity is the most prominent religion in America and churches like Westboro Baptist Church disgraces nearly everyone who does not shares the same beliefs as them but at the same time; other religions (and also many Christians) pity members of the Westboro Baptist Church for having closed minds.

Some women in America sympathize Muslim women for “being forced to cover up”, yet those same women pity western women for prancing around in bikinis and believing they must beautify themselves for society.

The 4^th of July appears to be a happy patriotic day but underneath the veil, is an ugly hole of hypocrisy.