Rabbi Carl M. Perkins
Cantor Jamie Gloth
Melissa Rudman, Executive Director 
Arlene Bryer, President

Independence Day, 2020

July 3, 2020 | 11 Tammuz 5780
Dear Friends,

Growing up in Philadelphia, July 4th was a big day. After all, that’s where the Declaration of Independence was signed:
(Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
I recall seeing (and hearing) fireworks going off in our area, and watching the occasional parade in our neighborhood. 

This year, of course, July 4th will be different -- for more than one reason. First of all, the festivities have been cancelled or curtailed in many places. For example, the traditional fireworks show sponsored by the Needham Exchange Club has been cancelled, as has the July 4th parade. Instead, there will be a “Town Vehicle Procession” beginning at around 9:00 am. Not quite the same. Second, even if we do gather, we won’t be doing so in large groups.  

There’s another significant difference this year: We are more conscious than ever before that the cries for freedom that resulted in our collective independence left some souls behind. For example, it wasn’t until the 1860s, well after the American Revolution, that slavery was outlawed in the United States. And it has taken much longer than that to make progress on alleviating the prejudice and discrimination that had allowed slavery to flourish. 

Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was born an African-American slave in Maryland. Had he not escaped enslavement, we might never have heard of him. But because he did, he became an influential abolitionist and a highly regarded American writer and orator. In fact, he became the first African-American nominated to be Vice President of the United States.

Asked to describe his first day of freedom in New York City -- less than twenty-four hours after running away from slavery -- he wrote the following:

I have often been asked how I felt when first I found myself on free soil. … A new world had opened upon me. … I lived more in one day than in a year of my slave life. It was a time of joyous excitement which words can but tamely describe. In a letter written to a friend soon after reaching New York, I said: 'I felt as one might feel upon escape from a den of hungry lions.' Anguish and grief, like darkness and rain, may be depicted; but gladness and joy, like the rainbow, defy the skill of pen or pencil.
Frederick Douglass’s life and thought continue to inspire Americans, long after his death. I would like to share with you a statement composed by a friend and colleague of mine, Rabbi Amy Katz, on behalf of the Interfaith Council of Greater Springfield.  

For so many of us, July 4th is a day to celebrate that in 1776 the Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all [people] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
 
The equality proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence was not fulfilled in the Constitution, which did not prohibit slavery until the Constitution was amended after the Civil War. This country was built on the backs of enslaved Black people whose rights were not protected by the Declaration of Independence. Our nation's Founders had vision, but it was limited. Today, we want to acknowledge those sentiments by turning to the words of Frederick Douglass: 
 
"[July 4th] reveals to [the Black person], more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass-fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy -- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages." 
 
The words of Frederick Douglass demand that we consider the Black American experiences in this country. And he was right. He advocated for full civil rights for ALL people who lived in this country. May we work together so that someday very soon, America will be America for every person who lives here, regardless of race or the color of their skin.
 
May we dedicate ourselves to realizing a universal application of our Founders' words so that the inherent worth and dignity of all human beings can be actualized and will be valued. When this happens, America will truly be the beacon of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all.  

I hope that Frederick Douglass’s stern and sober words will inspire us to take an active role in pursuing justice and equality in our country, so that when we once again are privileged to celebrate our independence together, we can be justly proud of the ways in which we have furthered the efforts he made, and brought our nation even closer to the fulfillment of its founding ideals.

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi Carl Perkins