There was the time and it was not that long ago when we identified the sound of a firecracker exploding, as, well, as simply “a firecracker.”
Fourth of July not only swelled the collective chests of our nation with pride of independence and patriotism but it bombarded the senses. Juicy watermelon. Barbecues. The cool splashing water of lakes and pools. Family gatherings. A nighttime sky transformed into an exploding palate of rainbow colors that danced and banged and boomed and then sizzled into the thin nothingness of air.
And. Oh. Those sounds of summer heightened by the Fourth. Explosions and the pop, pop, pop of firecrackers. And a, “ZABANG. KABOOM.” There was no doubt in those innocent days that the popping sound of a firecracker was a firecracker.
Unmistakable.
Not now. When survivors of some senseless and perhaps even random shooting attack describe the mayhem and the scene of the murders they say they were startled by the sound of what they thought were “firecrackers.”
Talk about innocence lost.
They hear something that is out of place, something audible, and it sounds like firecrackers exploding. But it is not. It is the sound of gunfire, bullets exploding toward defenseless human targets. The sounds ring out and people happily cavorting on the dance floor at a club in Florida are suddenly gunned down, dead or horribly wounded.
Explosions are not confined to the late night Fourth of July sky. Evildoers casually shoot down or blow up travelers in airports, revelers in theaters and sports arenas.
This is happening not just in America but around the entire world we live in. It’s not just a nightclub in Orlando or a church in South Carolina or a movie theater in Colorado or a company Christmas party in California.
And it’s not just the joyous rat-a-tat-tat of a Fourth of July celebration when you hear what you believe is the sound of firecrackers.
We wonder what is going on and no one really knows but there is a truth hidden among the sounds and images in these confusing, frightening signs of mayhem. People want to kill us. We know there are large groups of people who hate us. They live among us and they live far away. But we have a national target on our backs.
And they hate us for what? For being America and Americans. Despite what you learned in your first government class, we are not all born equal.
Some among us are born poor and will be forever. Some rich. Ditto. Some value all religious beliefs and respect them. Others swirl in the swamp of racism. Some “qualify” you and a possible friendship by asking if you are “Christian?”
What’s it to you?
This is America. Be who you are and believe in what you want Those who hate us do not understand freedom.
In this country we are not all born equal – sorry about that – but we are born free.
Celebrate freedom. That’s how we win.
Delight in the sounds and senses of the Fourth of July, a day when the sound of a firecracker really is a firecracker.
Richard Connor is president and publisher of the Fort Worth Business Press. Contact him at rconnor@bizpress.net.