As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, this milestone offers an opportunity to reflect on the country’s past, present and future. For the inaugural edition of Fenton Voices, we invited colleagues from across our agency to share what this anniversary means to them. The perspectives that follow offer a range of viewpoints on this milestone.
Together, this collection invites conversation. We hope it encourages readers to reflect on where we’ve been, consider where we are today and imagine what comes next.
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America turns 250 this year and I keep thinking about how much potential lies ahead for us to actualize the promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Until America truly confronts the deeply embedded inequities, and its proclivity for hate, we will struggle to bring prosperity to the doorsteps of everyone in this so-called United States. At this turning point in time, we have decisions to make: will we lead with love or will we allow greed to reign?
—Shakirah Hill Taylor
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On September 11, 2001, I was living in NYC with my husband and our 14-month-old daughter. On September 12, with her in the stroller, I bought my first American flag and let her wave it as we walked. Growing up, my family had never been one to thump our chests with the flag; my parents taught us that patriotism meant defending the First Amendment, and that the flag stood for the freedom even to burn it if people chose. But that awful day, I found some small solace in watching my toddler play with it, blissfully unaware of our agony.
Two years ago on July 4, when I stuck a small American flag in the dirt in front of our house, my youngest daughter was concerned that people would think we were Trump supporters. I rhetorically asked her why only the right wing had the right to claim the flag, and then told her that I wasn’t concerned with what others thought.
In the last few years, as the MAGA onslaught has fractured our country, I’ve thought about reclaiming the flag and reclaiming patriotism. As we mark 250 years of this unparalleled experiment in democracy, there are those who believe that patriotism means unquestioned loyalty to the U.S.A. I believe that patriotism is the continued striving to fulfill the vision of a more perfect union and to create a society that lives up to our ideals. That work will never be complete, but with freedom comes responsibility to contribute to it. An ancient Jewish sage said, “It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it.”
MAGA does not get to define what the flag represents. It belongs to all of us, as does this country. Let’s be worthy of what it stands for.
—Hillary Kessler
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America turns 250 this year, and I keep thinking about my grandparents, who came to this country from Mexico in the 1940s and were undocumented until the amnesty of the 1980s. I wonder if they would be proud of me and whether I have achieved the American dream they sought but were never able to fully achieve.
—Erik Olvera
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When America celebrates its 500 year anniversary, I hope we can look back at this moment 250 years into our grand experiment in democracy and say we did the hard things and the right things morally and ethically to care for and protect all Americans. We have come so far in advancing so many sectors of our society but we still have work to do to improve the lives of all Americans. I hope at America’s 500 year anniversary we can look back at our accomplishments and say unequivocally we are doing much better than we are now.
—Joe Wagner
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America turns 250 this year, and I keep thinking about the active efforts to undermine our democracy and the fight ahead to preserve it. Recently the Supreme Court made a decision that drastically impacts Black representation and voting power in Callais v. Louisiana, effectively reversing major voting rights wins from the Civil Rights Movement and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Voting by itself cannot bring needed progressive change, but we need to elect representatives aligned with our goals, and push our current representatives to fight the authoritarianism of the current administration. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The Arc of the Moral Universe is Long, But it Bends Toward Justice” and I deeply believe that.
—Adia Aidoo
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I feel a deep sense of pride living in a country where I have so many rights, opportunities, and privileges that do not exist in many other countries. I genuinely think about this every time I cast a ballot: how lucky I am to get to do this. But at the same time, I feel an equal amount of frustration – and I’m aware of the dichotomy – because countless people in this same country do not have these same rights, opportunities, and privileges. This lack of equality, and the constant anxiety that comes with the knowledge that our freedoms are under constant threat and could be taken away tomorrow, is a difficult reality to accept. Pride and frustration can coexist. To me, love of country means being honest with where we’re at, where we’ve fallen short, and what needs to change because I still have hope and still believe this democratic experiment is worth fighting for.
—Lana Abbasi
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I’m heartened by how far we’ve come in a relatively short span of history. But I’m still waiting for the day when marginalized people — Black people, immigrants, women, LGBTQ+ people, disabled people — no longer have to prove our humanity and worth. When we’re simply treated as full, necessary citizens, not petitioners for rights that were supposedly self-evident 250 years ago.
—Donté Donald