Writer's Block: Let freedom ring
Jul. 4th, 2011 12:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolorosa_12[Error: unknown template qotd]
This is a rather ignorant question. Not every country in the world celebrates an Independence Day. I'm from Australia, and we don't have any sort of celebration of independence for the simple fact that Australia is still part of the British commonwealth. The Queen is still our head of state. The closest thing Australia has to a national holiday celebrating its identity as a country is Australia Day, which commemorates the settlement of the First Fleet in Australia and the foundation of a colony there.
However, it is not a celebration full of joy because Australia Day also marks the dispossession of the indigenous inhabitants of Australia, and, indeed, many people call Australia Day 'Invasion Day' for this reason. I think that's a good reminder that national identity is complicated, and not necessarily a cause for unthinking, uncritical celebration.
This is a rather ignorant question. Not every country in the world celebrates an Independence Day. I'm from Australia, and we don't have any sort of celebration of independence for the simple fact that Australia is still part of the British commonwealth. The Queen is still our head of state. The closest thing Australia has to a national holiday celebrating its identity as a country is Australia Day, which commemorates the settlement of the First Fleet in Australia and the foundation of a colony there.
However, it is not a celebration full of joy because Australia Day also marks the dispossession of the indigenous inhabitants of Australia, and, indeed, many people call Australia Day 'Invasion Day' for this reason. I think that's a good reminder that national identity is complicated, and not necessarily a cause for unthinking, uncritical celebration.