With our nation’s milestone 250th anniversary taking place Saturday, there is much division and disagreement on what America should be about and what even constitutes an American.
I would like to tackle that question from the perspective of an eighth-generation American ancestor on my mother’s side, William Jacob Maness, Jr., who fought in the Revolutionary War as a member of North Carolina’s Continental Army.
I often ask if William knew what America would be like 250 years later, would he still have fought in 1776. My answer is yes!
My ancestor and many others like him took up arms to uphold an ancient ideal that all people yearn for freedom. That is as true now as it was then.
Despite all its flaws, shortcomings and often brutal history, America remains a special place, a land of opportunity where millions upon millions come to fulfill their dreams.
Sadly, our current administration is not in sync with this traditional view on the positive role that immigrants have played in shaping the nation. But that still does not change the narrative.
America is unique because there are people here from all over the world who speak different languages, celebrate different customs and worship God as they see fit.
From my ancestor whose family originally hailed from Scotland to the newcomers today who migrated from Mexico, Colombia, Vietnam or Senegal,
America truly belongs to everyone and anyone wanting to be free.
God Bless the USA and Happy Independence Day!
Dominic Calabrese, adjunct professor, Columbia College
July Fourth flop
This will be the hollowest-feeling July Fourth of my long life. I will be wearing my “Don’t assume that you still live in a free country” T-shirt. I have retained barely enough residual optimism to prevent myself from having a T-shirt made with the words “R.I.P. U.S.A. 1776-2025” and an image of a gravestone for the occasion.
The 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence will, of course, be observed, but whether the governmental system that the Founding Fathers launched is surviving for that long or whether it has been, and is in a continuing process of being irreparably damaged is something that we will only know in hindsight. Nothing is certain.
Donald Trump is far more like George III than he is like George Washington, but I may be slighting the late king with that comparison.
Curt Fredrikson, Mokena
Fast-forward 2026
I remember 1976. It was a spectacular year of celebration for our bicentennial. A year to be savored, then and now. Fifty years later, we have reached 2026. Another benchmark year, but this Donald Trump 250 dreck fest is incredibly depressing. Sadly, I find myself wishing the year was over.
Tony Galati, Lemont
Birthright blessing for America’s 250th
This Fourth of July, we will celebrate t the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold birthright citizenship and reaffirm the protections of the 14th Amendment.
It was a bold reaffirmation by the highest court on the cusp of country’s 250th birthday that the United States can be home to those that dare to venture from their own birthplace — be it because of a lack of economic opportunity, political turmoil, persecution or climate change. Their children, who are born here and know no other land, are indeed, American.
As a naturalized U.S. citizen, I know firsthand that citizenship opens doors, it allows us to plant our roots and develop a true sense of belonging. It is a promise that through hard work, perseverance and hope we can build a better future for ourselves and our families.
Leading Instituto del Progreso Latino as president and CEO, I have proudly walked alongside thousands of residents on their journey to becoming U.S. citizens. We have hosted naturalization ceremonies filled with joy and tears, and we have witnessed the dreams of immigrant families become reality. We have supported parents with their U.S.-born children, beginning their lives with the rights and protections guaranteed by our Constitution.
The Court’s decision instills hope in the systems put in place to protect us and the rights laid out in the constitution over a century ago. It is because of those rights that so many rich cultures from around the world have influenced each other and created the America we know and celebrate this Fourth of July.
Karina Ayala-Bermejo, president and CEO, Instituto del Progreso Latino
Safeguarding America’s tree
As America turns 250, trees are among the few living beings capable of bearing witness to all those years of history. It’s crucial to champion trees now and into the future, especially oaks, our country’s national tree.
With over 90 species across the country — from the ancient live oaks of the southeast and the iconic valley oaks of California, to the white oak, Illinois’ state tree — oaks comprise the most diversity of any native tree group in the United States, and they anchor entire ecosystems.
Birds, mammals and insects call these trees home around the world, and their acorns supply food for wildlife. In urban areas like Chicago, oaks support wellness and climate resilience by reducing air pollution, providing shade during increasingly hot summers, mitigating flooding and more.
Scientists at the Morton Arboretum have studied oaks for decades. Through its collaborative partnerships, the institution has positioned Chicago as a global hub for oak research and conservation.
For example, a range-wide experiment of bur oaks — a keystone of eastern North American savannas and forests — is underway at the arboretum and in Minnesota and Oklahoma to see how oaks may evolve in response to climate change and ways to better steward them.
In local communities, the arboretum’s Chicago Region Trees Initiative plants and cares for trees in areas that need them most. The initiative helps communities advance their tree canopy goals, often providing native oaks for planting projects.
As a lead contributor to the Chicago Wilderness Alliance’s Oak Ecosystems Recovery Plan, the arboretum works to preserve and connect the small, isolated patches of oak habitat remaining across the seven-county region. Development and the spread of invasive shrubs have crowded out these trees that require space and sunlight to thrive. Arboretum-led research identified priority areas for forest management and intervention to support healthy oak ecosystems.
The world’s 450-plus oak species also face challenges globally due to land development, climate change, disease and overharvesting. The arboretum and its collaborators are conserving oaks in biodiversity hot spots as far as Mesoamerica and Asia, through the Global Conservation Consortium for Oak, which the arboretum leads.
Safeguarding oaks anywhere benefits shared ecosystems everywhere, so that for the next 250 years and beyond, future generations may grow to know these majestic trees and the many organisms that depend on them.
Murphy Westwood, vice president of Science and Conservation, the Morton Arboretum
Can’t ignore America’s failings — past and present
On July Fourth,when we celebrate the semiquincentennial, let’s be intellectually and socially honest, and tell the whole story. We all understand how lucky we are to live in the United States That said, at times, we’ve treated some of our very own marginalized people right here on American soil, horrifically. Those dark moments shouldn’t be ignored.
Looking back at our racist discriminatory history isn’t about shaming. It’s about learning, so we can acknowledge our imperfections and avoid committing them over and over again. As George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
We do future generations of children a great disservice by whitewashing the truth and hiding these atrocities. The government-sanctioned abuse runs the gamut from slavery and the Trail of Tears all the way to the recent gutting and attempted elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion programs. And let’s not forget the abominable Supreme Court decisions of Dred Scott v Standford in 1857 and Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. Systemic attacks and institutionalized suspicion against those who don’t look, think or act a certain way has a long pathetic tradition in this country. What happened to the LGBTQ+ community at Stonewall in 1969 and the Pulse nightclub in 2016 are two vivid examples.
But despite our moral shortcomings, compared to other wealthy nations, we rank No. 1 in the world when it comes to money and military might. However, we rank only 23rd in happiness and dead last or near the bottom when it comes to healthcare access and outcomes. We’ve obviously conquered capitalism. But concerning fairness and freedom, uniformly and universally, we are still a work in progress.
It would be quite the accomplishment, if by the time we celebrate our tricentennial anniversary in 2076, we can claim the No. 1 spot in all rankings. Let’s hope we apply the Golden Rule — Do unto others as you would have them do unto you — as Confucius taught back in 500 B.C.
Wes Dickson, Orland Park
Separation of church and state is inherently American
As Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission works to end America’s separation of church and state doctrine, it’s worth remembering the actual words of the U.S. Constitution upon which that doctrine is based.
Article VI, Clause 3 explicitly prohibits the government from requiring any elected or appointed federal official to profess any specific religion, or any religion at all, as a condition for holding public office, stating: “...but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
The First Amendment clearly states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”
Finally, Article 11 of the 1797 Treaty of Tripoli declares that the United States is “not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.” It was drafted to reassure Muslim nations that America was a secular state. The fifth U.S. Senate unanimously ratified the treaty on June 7, 1797, and it was officially signed by President John Adams on June 10, 1797.
Our Founding Fathers were acutely aware of the violence religious differences could create. They knew of the English Civil War, the devastating Thirty Years’ War in Europe, the persecution of Baptists in Virginia, Quakers in Massachusetts and Maryland’s violent civil war between Catholics and Protestants. They understood that we could never build a united America if we didn’t learn to live together peacefully.
The separation of church and state is crucial to maintaining our unity and domestic tranquility. Let’s remember the words of George Washington, in our nation’s 250th year. Writing to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, Washington assured the Jewish community religious freedom by saying, “May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants — while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.”
Now those are words worth celebrating.
Steve Parsons, Edison Park
‘Two Hundred Fifty’
Dear America,
Land that I love:
Keeper of dreams,
If only half-fulfilled.
Guarantor of liberty,
If only half-granted.
From sea to glistening sea:
Foaming at the mouth, “I can’t breathe.”
Crimson, white and blue with greed.
Land of fascists roaming free.
Will this be thy year?
Of peace and equity;
Of penance and humility;
Of death to tyranny.
Christine Anderson, Jefferson Park