As some of us celebrate Independence Day, our country’s birthday, I wanted to share with you a recent conversation I had with a friend. He had complained that, on a trip to a large one-stop store, he had been unable to find many products that are “Made in America.” Most products, he said, bore “Made in China” labels. My friend said that he had bought those products, because a) they were available; and b) they were cheaper. ​

 

As we talked, I began to wonder how many people look at those labels and if they consider what they mean. They mean so much more than just a physical production site. In the modern United States, they mean that the people who produced those products were paid a living wage. They mean that laws were in place to keep working conditions safe. They mean that standards and regulations were implemented to ensure product quality and safety. And, they mean that these products were not produced by exploiting vulnerable populations, like children.

It's not within me to sacrifice the safety, well-being, and economic security of our neighbors to buy something more cheaply. Made in America should carry with it a commitment to others. And, our leadership must understand the core values that we hold dear. 

This time of year evokes many memories. Some are personal, others are societal, and many, it turns out, are both. 

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As kids, my brother, Ian, and I often made the trek with our parents to our Mom’s home state of Alabama, to spend a week or so enjoying swimming and fishing in the bayou and the Gulf with the generations of our family at our Great Aunt Maude’s house in Foley, Alabama. Sometimes we arose in the wee hours of the morning and drove and drove far into the night to arrive at Maude’s house and fall into beds made up in every available space. Sometimes, we made the journey in a more leisurely way, stopping to spend the night or simply to enjoy tasty meals along the way. I still treasure the time we spent as a family, both in the journey itself and the gathering in a space that seemed entirely inhabited by water and light—and of course, seafood.

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Over the last several weeks, as a community and a country, we have celebrated and honored milestones in our history, including Juneteenth and the signing of the Civil Rights Act sixty years ago. This year, on the morning of Juneteenth, as I did my chores around the farm, I listened to the radio as the Emancipation Proclamation, which was made effective in 1863, was read. And I thought about the people in westernmost Texas, who remained enslaved until much later. On June 19, 1865, some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas and announced that, by executive decree, more than 250,000 enslaved Black people were finally free. 

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And yet, by policy decisions, by rhetoric hearkening back to bygone days and cherished memories, by overt acts of terror, people remained subject to the tyranny of our communal legacy. When President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, an Act that prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, and national origin, this country truly began the process of dismantling systemic racism. 

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In the early and mid-1960’s, as my brother and I were traveling to Alabama to visit relatives, our journey mirrored in some ways the journey some classmates of ours were making at the same time. The family of Drs. Eliot and Muriel Battle were also traveling to see their maternal grandparents and other family in southern Alabama. Yet, the Battle family’s trip was in many ways remarkably different from ours. Our parents never had to consider where we would stop for a meal, a hotel room, a bathroom break, a drink of water. Our friends’ parents did. Both families heading south to see grandparents, but one faced barriers and challenges never even considered by the other.

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So, when I think with nostalgia about my experiences, I must consider whether that experience, which was so significantly different for others, solely because of the color of their skin, is something to celebrate. I don’t want to go back to that time since I know that others did not have the choices, the opportunities, that I had merely because I was white. 

Especially in a community like Boone County, with its overwhelming support of the Children’s Services Fund and the work that Fund accomplishes to ensure that EVERY child in Boone County has the opportunity to thrive, we cannot believe that a past that creates a tiered system of haves and have nots, entirely based on racial differences, is something to celebrate. I choose to celebrate the Boone County in which every child is afforded an equal opportunity to thrive.

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