The 4th of July is a time to celebrate what America stands for, but what we stand for is not really what conservatives think we stand for these days. They stand for more liberty, yes, but only for themselves, their rich friends and their way of thinking. They stand for oppression of minority groups and of the poor.
Yet, just in the last two weeks, liberty has expanded quite a lot. Here are three examples of how America is actually working to become what we keep saying we are.
The Supreme Court upholds subsidies in the Affordable Care Act
The ACA was providing subsidies to qualified applicants for health insurance, to help with the premiums. These were necessary to make health insurance affordable to millions of Americans across the country.
However, only a handful of states actually created their own insurance marketplaces. The rest depended on the U.S. Government’s healthcare.gov website. The exact wording of that part of the ACA supposedly made it clear that the subsidies could only apply to people living in states that had created their own marketplaces. It did not apply to those whose states had decided to depend on healthcare.gov.
That quibble went to court, and landed at the feet of the Supreme Court. If they struck the subsidies down, then millions of Americans would once again be unable to afford health insurance, and be stuck. It would destroy a key part of what makes the ACA work. Republicans wanted this.
Everyone who believes that everyone, no matter how rich or poor they are, should have access to quality care via health insurance, along with those depending on the subsidies, were understandably nervous.
The Supreme Court upheld the tax subsidies in a 6-3 vote, meaning that those millions who were afraid of having to give up their insurance, and thus, their healthcare, were safe.
Republicans would have us believe that the law represents a loss of liberty, because the federal government is forcing people to buy a product, and forcing businesses to pay for something they might not want to. However, healthcare should be considered a basic human right, and here in the U.S., it’s not. It’s a business, and if you can’t afford it, tough. Deal. Make better decisions. Pick yourself up by your bootstraps, and all that.
One has to ask…how is keeping even basic healthcare out of the hands of millions “liberty?” It’s not.
The Supreme Court decides same-sex marriage is really just marriage for all 50 states
One day after the ACA ruling came out, the Supreme Court dropped another bombshell onto conservatives – specifically, those who comprise the religious right. The right to marry, the Court decided, is a right that applies to all people, and it’s not for the government to say who people can marry.
So now, gays can marry their partners legally, and receive all the civil benefits associated with marriage. The religious right cries that this is a massive violation of their religious liberty. We just have to ask: How? Nobody’s telling them they can’t go to church anymore. Nobody’s telling them they can’t pray. Nobody’s burning their churches down (although someone is burning down black churches in the South).
Heterosexual marriages haven’t changed at all. They don’t have to conduct themselves any differently. They don’t have to file for divorce. They don’t have to start having anal sex now.
They aren’t losing their jobs. They aren’t having trouble finding jobs because of this. They aren’t losing their homes or being denied housing. Their taxes didn’t go up. They don’t have to pay fines for believing in heterosexual marriage. We could go on and on, but the bottom line is, what suddenly changed so much that their religious liberty is gone?
The answer is: Nothing. The right of same-sex couples to marry has nothing to do with them. Their resistance to the idea is about control, not about religious liberty. It’s about a group gaining a freedom that these people feel should be reserved to themselves.
So same-sex couples now have the freedom to marry, and nothing has happened to rest of us. In fact, this straight writer’s heterosexual marriage is just fine (although she did find mats in her cat’s fur on Sunday, which weren’t there before the SCOTUS marriage ruling came out). This is a true expansion of liberty.
Even Southern Republicans begin to question continued display of the Confederate battle flag
The Confederate battle flag, which many just think of as “The Confederate flag,” has a long, not-so-proud history in our country. Given that the Civil War was fought over slavery, it’s not tough to determine that the Confederate battle flag stands for racist ideology. The South has been extremely resistant to permanently bringing that flag down, claiming it’s not racist, it’s merely about heritage.
Then something terrible happened. A violent white supremacist shot nine black people in a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina. Despite right-wing media trying to question Dylann Roof’s motives, we know the massacre was racially motivated. It renewed cries to remove the Confederate battle flag from public property, including the South Carolina statehouse.
Alabama’s governor actually ordered the removal of the Confederate battle flag from state grounds. South Carolina governor, Nikki Haley, called for a vote to remove the flag from the South Carolina statehouse. Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) called for the removal of the flag from South Carolina also. Mississippi’s House Speaker called for removing the flag from Mississippi’s state flag.
In addition to that, Walmart promised to stop selling Confederate battle flags. In other words, the tide is turning when it comes to the ongoing fight about what that flag really symbolizes, and whether it’s appropriate for the “Land of the Free” to keep displaying it.
What does this have to do with expanding liberty? It means that even hardcore Southern states might be realizing that’s finally time to have a real, open, honest talk about systemic racism in this country. Systemic racism oppresses people of color here, specifically, black people.
It’s true that removing the Confederate battle flag from public property will not destroy systemic racism, but it does show a certain degree of recognition that there is still a real problem here. The KKK, Dylann Roof, and other white supremacists embody the most extreme aspect of it, but it’s there in far more subtle ways, too. The removal of racist symbols shows a small step forward in the fight against the systemic racism that keeps the black community down.
In short, there is a lot to celebrate this 4th of July. Conservatives and the religious right might not think so, but they’re on the wrong side of history when it comes to what liberty actually is, and what freedom means. If Independence Day is a celebration of liberty, then these three things are good reasons to celebrate.
Author Rika Christensen is an experienced writer and loves debating politics. Engage with her and see more of her work by following her on Facebook and Twitter.