re: Spurs rookie Lonnie Walker: ‘Will never celebrate 4th of July. Know your history’

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Understand, that for black people. There was no independence on July 4, 1776. We were still enslaved.

I have no problem celebrating the 4th. But I also understand that at the time, I wouldn't have been doing any celebrating.

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I think this is fair. Slavery started as soon as people started settling here.. In the 1600s.

The Declaration of Independence didn't apply to blacks, otherwise; slavery would not have been allowed. Then even after slaves were freed, black people didn't have the same opportunities.

Anyone who is not black... If you were black.. let's say in the 1960s, when the military started drafting people to fight in Vietnam. would you have been okay with going fight for a country that didn't treat you as an equal? I completely understand this post..

With that said, this country continues to evolve. As a result of slavery, there are still high levels of poverty and uneducation in black communities, but today everyone has the same opportunity to get an education and work their way out of poverty. And with had work and a goal, anyone can gain wealth.. And it is the Declaration of Independence that allows everyone to have the opportunity.

You can't forget history. It helps to understand the present, but on the 4th.. Celebrate the present.. Because today, we are all free.