I believe there comes a “moment” in time when a person decides they don’t want to live a certain way anymore, they want more freedom, and then the vision and journey begin for something greater. It’s in that moment that we discover how much we are willing to sacrifice and risk for not only ourselves, but our entire families.

And it’s only when the journey is underway do we truly realize how much in bondage we were in. If, for no other reason, the desperate need for a new start of freedom is the very foundation of why America was formed. Right?

“Independence: How Soon We Forget”

Today is July 4, 2018, Independence Day for Americans. This is the anniversary of the publication of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain in 1776. Can you imagine what the founding fathers were thinking when they fled Great Britain to take over a land that was already occupied? They were desperate for a fresh start, without the persecution for their religious beliefs. Imagine the mindset and desperation they must have had, to move away from everything they knew with the belief that things had to be better on this land that was already occupied. This land is founded on the principles of freedom and opportunity for all. Shouldn’t this apply to all?

“The Land of Opportunity”

I can’t help but pay attention to the state of our nation and the turmoil it is in. Now, there isn’t a problem spoken of today that started today. But one that is glaringly obvious and is deeply rooted in the fabric of this nation is immigration.

Let’s first define the word immigrant: “a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country.”

So, anyone not born in America is classified as an immigrant, including the founding fathers of this nation. Regardless of your view of the topic, the fact will always remain that what we call America today was stolen from a group of people already established here. So why are we so hypocritical and harsh to any group of people who are simply seeking freedom, which was what our country was founded on? Right? This is the land of opportunity, and one of the top nations in the world that people flock to for a better life.

A Different Kind of Freedom

I was speaking to my best friend recently about the current immigration order (before it was reversed), where children had been separated from their parents, siblings, and everything they knew, some for months at a time. Imagine being 6 years old and losing all connection to everybody you knew, including your safe, warm environment, all due to an “illegal” status.

My friend reminded me of the desperation these families had for a better life in America. I couldn’t imagine the fear I would have every day, knowing that at any moment, I could be picked up and deported. No matter where you stand on the issue of undocumented immigrants, I think we can all agree that there has been a blatant lack of empathy for families, illegal or not, in recent months. No child should ever be separated from their parents and tossed aside into a camp or detention center, alone, while the government “works out the details” of reuniting families that it forced to be apart in the first place. Oh, how soon we forget this country’s foundation.

But then again, we a have a history of breaking up families in this country. I think about the African-American heritage in America. So many didn’t get to choose to come over here. Let’s think back to those who were forcibly shipped, beaten, raped, and killed with no thought of freedom in sight. We were only to be valued as cheap labor and human breeders on plantations.

There were so many families ripped apart to the highest bidder, forever traumatized. We are still seeing the lasting effects from that time in younger generations today. Looking back through this country’s history, there is a clear distinction of freedom and how it varies depending on your family’s backstory in this great land.

And yet through it all, I can see God’s hand in so many ways.

“God Bless America”

I truly believe God has a greater plan and purpose for America, despite our colorful past. The continued issues such as race and immigration that continuously keep rising must come to the surface and be dealt with. No problem can be changed if it is not acknowledged and then dealt with.

We must re-set the foundation of this land and instill in it the love, compassion, and purpose that God originally designed it for. Only then will we all truly be free.

Many times, God allows us to go through things which will better prepare us with the empathy needed to handle others who will one day walk through our humbling and trying times.

But our inability to see the irony in celebrating independence today, when we have so many people in turmoil over freedom and simple rights, grieves me. Now, I understand that law is law, and illegal is illegal. But a nation that conveniently quotes “One Nation Under God” has an obligation to love and care for the very people in the way God would. This is the same God that deals with us all with grace and mercy, along with His rules and regulations.

As you are enjoying your loved ones today (or this weekend), please remember those who can’t celebrate freedom yet. Remember the ones who are seeking asylum. Remember the ones who are in hiding, hoping to never be caught and sent back from where they once fled. Remember the ones who are desperately trying to find their children in the very nation they fled to, for freedom.

Article by Felicia A. Tate