NYTIMES – July 4, 2020, ASHAMED ON THE 4TH OF JULY

A reader explains why she won’t be celebrating this year.

Letter to the Editor:

This is the first time in my 77 years that I won’t be celebrating the Fourth of July. I won’t be wearing my stars and stripes shirt, playing patriotic songs, attending a parade or displaying my American flag.

Because in good conscience I can no longer celebrate a country that stands by silently and allows this lying, narcissistic president to dismantle our environmental protections, bribe a foreign power, urge reduced Covid-19 testing during a pandemic, denounce the free press, encourage voter suppression, applaud racism, protect Confederate statues and ignore reports of Russian bounties to kill American soldiers.

I pray that next year we will have a new president who believes in the rule of law, the Constitution and the premise that “all men are created equal.” Then I will once again be able to call myself a proud American instead of just a very ashamed one.

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