At Montclair’s 4th of July parade, I asked attendees to share one word to describe America, inspired by a national Associated Press survey.
Attendees, community leaders, and local volunteers shared their thoughts following a recent Supreme Court decision upholding birthright citizenship.
Video transcript
Joti Rekhi: If you had to use one word to describe America on its 250th Anniversary, what would it be?
Series of interviews from parade attendees: Extraordinary. Freedom. Messy. Exciting. Promise. Disappointing. Choice. Festive. Complicated. Opportunity.
Rekhi: I’m Joti Rekhi, a video fellow with Central Desi, and we are at Montclair’s 4th of July Parade. I decided to do my own polling after I saw a survey from the Associated Press asking Americans to describe the country in one word. I realized it’s a bit more difficult than I imagined.
Parade attendee: Home of the free because of the brave!
Rekhi: One word! At the top of the AP’s list were the words great, prosperous and powerful, followed by struggling and declining. Regardless of people’s personal beliefs, some say there’s always reason to celebrate.
Genevieve Wren, YMCA of Montclair: You have to always focus on the positive. You know, there’s so much negativity out there that a celebration like this is really uplifting, and I think we all need that.
Rekhi: The celebration comes just days after the Supreme Court decided to uphold birthright citizenship. That’s been at the top of organizations such as AAPI New Jersey’s list for the past several months.
Amber Reed, Co-Executive Director, AAPI NJ: I think we’ve come such a long way. There was a time when we couldn’t become citizens, when we couldn’t vote. It was just kind of okay to kill us, and our word wasn’t even worth anything in court. So no one was ever held accountable for these, honestly, massacres and lynchings that we experienced. And now we can bring our children here to our local 4th of July parade to celebrate in safety, dance to the beat of the dhol, and throw our Hi-Chews and our guava candies out. And to the extent that we’re able to do that, I think it shows the power of our communities. Because it’s not the laws that changed themselves; it’s the people who showed up to demand more rights and who changed the laws. And I think we all have to remember, it’s a partnership over time between the people and the law.
Rekhi: I’m curious to know what one word you would use. Go ahead and drop it in the comments. And you know the drill, go ahead and like and follow. It helps more than you realize. See you next time!
Joti Kaur Rekhi is the inaugural video reporting fellow at Central Desi. She is a veteran local news anchor and reporter who recently launched her own production company, Harjan.
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