The United States celebrated this past weekend the national holiday of July 4, the day that commemorates the country’s independence. This date was marked by the rebound in cases of covid-19 – which forced most of the traditional festivities to be avoided -, anti-racist protests and for a speech by President Trump that encouraged polarization.
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“Now we are in the process of defeating the radical left, the Marxists, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters and the people who, in many instances, do not know at all what they are doing,” said the president.
Far from the usually conciliatory tone of the July 4 speeches, the Republican also attacked the media.
“The more they lie, the more they slander (…), the more we will work to tell the truth, and we will overcome“He declared.
Last Friday, Trump inaugurated the July 4 celebration with an act on Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, famous for the faces of four former leaders carved on the mountain, in which he defended the country’s monuments, when a debate about its meaning and racism has gained momentum.
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The famous hillside of South Dakota where the faces of former presidents are sculpted George Washington (1789-1797), Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809), Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865) y Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) is for thousands of American Indians a sacred place where they carved the faces of their “Colonizers”.
And it became the scene of a ceremony that takes place when the United States lives a process of reflection on the racist history of many of the statesmen and generals honored in monuments and statues.
After the speeches made by President Donald Trump on this date, a series of protests broke out in the country. American flags were burned and in Baltimore, for example, another statue of Christopher Columbus was knocked down.
On the side of family celebrations, the day of the national holiday was clouded by the coronavirus. The pandemic caused the closure of popular beaches, normally crowded on the weekend of July 4, in the ends of the country, since California and Florida suffer alarming waves of cases of the virus.
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Across the country, parades were called off, boisterous meals in home gardens were cut down, and family gatherings were canceled amid concerns over air travel and the spread of the virus.
AFP Y EFE
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