Issues, Ideas and Insights by Atul Singh

Happy Fourth – Musings on a Unique Celebration

Nothing reverberates more powerfully through the soul of a nation than the day of its independence. It is a day which marks liberty from an oppressor and the discovery of a people’s identity. Nations mark it through celebrations, speeches and, perhaps most importantly of all, national holidays.

Experiencing the Fourth of July, 233 years after a group of idealistic men signed a convention in Philadelphia still has a sense of immediacy, poignancy and involvement not seen elsewhere in the world. What is it that makes that the fourth unique?

The writer first experienced the fourth celebrations in Seattle in 2004. It was one of those rare clear days in that rainy city and, as a tourist exploring America for the first time, it was fascinating to observe how the whole city seemed to be in a celebratory mood. People were wishing each other Happy Fourth, hosting barbecues and going to concerts. On the waterfront later that night spectacular fireworks lit up the night skies to the sound of music.

This year, the writer experienced the Fourth of July celebrations for the second time. The venue was Novato, a small town in Marin County, which lies to the north of the city of San Francisco with the Pacific on its west and the Bay on its east. It is a spectacularly beautiful county which is clearly affluent though currently suffering from the recession increasingly affecting the daily lives of most Americans. Yet on the Fourth, Novato put its troubles out of mind in a celebration that was uniquely American.

So what is it that makes Happy Fourth unique? For a start, it is the highly community oriented nature of the celebrations. Families lined up on Grant Avenue in Novato, children, parents and grandparents all waving flags and enjoying their day in the sun. The parade had 102 entries – local schools, sports clubs, war veterans, fire fighters and businesses all joining in. This is typical of most towns across America and the parade is an occasion where civic pride in such communities comes to the fore. In towns in other countries, governments orchestrate such celebrations while, in Novato, the Fourth of July celebrations have always been organized by local residents. Kathy Nickel, the Chair of the Parade Committee, is not a government official but an involved citizen and so are all the other members of the committee. This is also the case in countless small towns across America which is evidence of the fact that community involvement in this great country is unrivalled by any other.

In France, Bastille Day, the fourteenth of July, is the equivalent of America’s Fourth of July. It is the day that people stormed the Bastille prison and started the French revolution. Celebrations are held across France involving parades, dances and fireworks marking the event. They are invariably organized by the local Mayor instead of local citizens. Similarly in India, it is the local official who presides over stale celebrations with little or no community involvement. The annual speech by the Indian Prime Minister is a mere ritual which no one cares about and people treat the day like any other holiday.

Another unique feature of the Fourth of July is that a general air of celebration takes hold over America. People wish each other and passers-by Happy Fourth. Families wave US flags, gather together for barbecues and watch fireworks. For all the pride in other countries, there is no annual occasion where citizenship is affirmed by families in a national celebration. This is extraordinary; even highly nationalistic China has no equivalent of Happy Fourth. All over the world, families get together on occasions like festivals and weddings which help in community bonding, fostering values and forging identities. America celebrates the Fourth of July as a national festival. It is a celebration of being American. Achievement is honored, civic values extolled and people in smalls towns all over America come together to forge community ties.

Radio stations across America interview war veterans and other upstanding members of the community. KQED, the Californian radio station, interviewed Major Nicole Malachowski and Jean Harman, a World War II Women’s Auxiliary Service Pilot (WASP), celebrating the WASP contribution to the war effort and their subsequent shabby treatment at the hands of the US government. There were endless talk shows about the significance of the day and the music, dialogue and sense of history was inescapable. Again, this was not government orchestrated with a national channel blaring tunes of patriotism but a people affirming, discussing and celebrating their nationhood through every available medium.

Finally, what marks out the Fourth of July is its inclusiveness. Everyone is invited to the party and everyone is assumed to be American. The foreigners standing on Grant Avenue in Novato yesterday were as much a part of the occasion as the people who grew up in that town. Candies were handed out, bands marched and kids of all hues and backgrounds mingled together.

No other independence celebration in the world is so inclusive. It is a fitting tribute to the first modern revolution – it preceded the French one by thirteen years, acted as an inspiration for the rest of the world and set up a remarkable constitution that thrives to this day. America has been far from perfect. Indeed, it has seen discrimination and division in many forms but its welcoming inclusivity, manifested most visibly on occasions like Happy Fourth, makes it special.