Did You Have a Happy Independence Day.....Or Not?

By Xavier James

I got a text on the 4th of JULY telling me 'happy Independence Day.' My response was "only Negroes would celebrate their own enslavement." I'm not against having a good time or grilling out, but I am a student of history. And the 4th of July has always been a sense of contention for a lot of people of color. You see, while white folks celebrate their freedom from Britain, Natives and Blacks were being slain and enslaved by the thousands. I mean, Black folks were literally scrambling like hell to get away from George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. All the so called founding fathers were big time land stealer's and slave hunters. So any black person celebrating Independence Day actually celebrates their great, great, great grandparents being beaten and brutalized. I know it's a bit much for some people to understand, especially white folks, but I simply tell people "happy holiday;" a day off work. I feel like a traitor or a fool celebrating my own  people getting their asses whipped. I mean, who does that? I wonder if I can get white folks to help me pass a Nat Turner Holiday? I would ask black folks to help me, but they'll still want to go and get white folks permission first.