The idea of the United States as "the land of the free and the home of the brave" has always been a choice. There have been moments where the choice has been made well; yet many others where the choice has been made to exclude.
Millions of Native Americans experienced genocide to make way for English colonialism and western Expansion. Millions of African Americans were enslaved.
One century ago, the US viewed Germans, Italians, Greeks, Irish, Poles, Russians, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos, and Mexicans as foreign menaces, and essentially banned immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe, and all of Asia. According to the immigration laws of the day, Jesus himself would have been banned. Many of us may have heard about anti-Italian or anti-Polish prejudice growing up, but schools at that time also stopped teaching German, churches ended German language sermons, cities banned the speaking of German in public, German Americans were tarred and feathered, and in one infamous case a German American was even lynched.
Today, Latinos are the main focus of such hate. Thousands abducted on street corners, in school drop-off lines, churches, work sites, hospitals, and courts. Children orphaned, and spouses widowed. People detained and deported even though they were following "the rules" but denied due process because the US is breaking its own immigration laws. Latino US citizens arrested and separated from their families for days because of racial profiling.
Since the anti-Chinese movement of the 19th century, anti-immigrant rhetoric has had a proven political track record of success in the U.S. To say that Donald Trump is a political genius for stirring such hate is like saying that pornography is great filmmaking because it continues to sell.
The worst for me, however, is that white nationalism has also been wedded to Christianity since the very beginning. Consider this prayer from Baptist minister Isaac Kolloch on July 4, 1888:
“We meet together today to celebrate the anniversary of our national birth, and we pray that we may be enabled to carry out the divine principles which inspired our noble sires and others, and we pray that…capital may respect the rights of labor, and that labor may honor capital; that the Chinese must go…and good men stay.”
Kolloch was later elected mayor of San Francisco. You get my point.
I end with my own prayer for this 4th of July.
Lord Jesus, I thank you that you are a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. No creature is hidden from your sight, but all things are naked and open before your eyes, and before You to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:12-13). Start with me, Lord. Forgive me and heal me of my own prejudices. Help me more and more to understand the unfathomable depths of your love for immigrants, the poor, and all who are cast aside by society in this historic moment. More than 2,000 verses from your Word say it is so.
In your power, please rise up on their behalf, because yours is a throne of justice and grace (Hebrews 1:8-9; Hebrews 4:16). Sanctify your church. Send us out to love and care, advocate, and represent You well.