04-07-2025
Southtown letters: Different takes on freedom over the Fourth of July weekend
Almost every July 4, the owners of Hobby Lobby, ultra-Evangelicals all, take out full-page ads in many major newspapers trying to convince us that this country was meant to be a Christian nation.
They'll publish numerous 18th century quotes from various 'believers' suggesting that these statements prove their claim. Their feeble efforts fall flat, because the physical historical record dictates otherwise. For example:
While Christians would no doubt love to enact a law mandating their 'faith' as the only 'true' religion, that was never part of the original vision. Wishful thinking obviously makes the religious right feel better about themselves,but telling the truth should also.
This Fourth of July arrived under the weight of a democracy in distress. We are witnessing an erosion of rights, the normalization of injustice and an emboldened effort to silence the very voices democracy was meant to empower.
Recent actions by the Trump administration — and the systems that have allowed it — do not reflect American liberty. They reflect fear. They reflect control. They reflect a democracy that is no longer guaranteed.
Despite this, as a director at the iCan Dream Center, I dream that our students might live in an America that will not reduce rights like Free Appropriate Public Education, individualized education program procedural safeguards and equity in special education.
At iCan Dream Center, our teachers and practitioners work with young people whose voices have been historically ignored: students with disabilities, youth of color, those shaped by trauma, poverty, and systemic neglect.
After all, what is patriotism if not the radical belief that every student, regardless of ZIP code, diagnosis, category of disability or citizenship, is worthy of learning, safety, protection and joy?
This weekend is not a time for performative patriotism. It is a time to question who our systems serve and who they exclude. It is a time to stand beside those our democracy fails. It is a time to dream for equity in education.
So, this Fourth of July, while fireworks fill the sky, I remain grounded in educational justice for all youth here in the southland and beyond.
