The Fourth of July often serves as a time for family and friends to come together, through picnics, barbeques and firework shows. Children run to the beach while grandparents retell stories from their younger years. All are wearing the celebratory red, white and blue.

But, this year Independence Day feels stuck in the post-smoke firework haze. The holiday is cast in the shadow of last week’s presidential debate and the country’s uncertain future. Poolside conversations are destined to debrief the debacle; will the Democratic Party replace President Biden as the 2024 nominee? Who won the debate? Was there a winner?

As we welcome the 248th anniversary of our country’s founding, the nation remains in disarray. As families come together, it feels as if — as a nation — we have never been further apart.

2024 can adequately be described as a tumultuous year in American history. The Supreme Court hands down controversial decisions, some overturning decades of precedent. Many feel locked out of politics, voiceless to make change in the current political system. The presidential election cycle ramps up with the same candidates as four years ago.

In 2020, the country reckoned with its past, interrogating the legacy of slavery and enduring racism in our country. No doubt, the last four years have not been easy for American politics. Some joke about the fall of an empire among rising partisanship; others call for a return to America’s ‘golden age.’

We are inching closer to the United States' 250th birthday; in fact, our election this year determines the President at the quarter of the millennium. No time is better for us to reckon with our country’s values. Simply put, what does it mean to be American?

It’s time to reinterpret these now-iconic words of the Declaration of Independence. We need to question how we can achieve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the modern age. We must determine how to protect our unalienable rights, continuing to pursue the self-evident truths on which our country was founded.

Frankly, the future of the United States rests on understanding our founding. What drove these — by today’s standards — young men to declare independence from England? In many ways, we are our past. The nation as we know it is the culmination of  legislation, court decisions, executive orders, and, most importantly, people.

But, our future does not need to be our past, yet if we don’t know our past it will be.

We are at a fault line in American history. This year, Independence Day cannot solely be parades, picnics and popsicles. It is time to reckon with our past and reimagine the U.S. When the firework ash settles, we must have a vision for the future. The nation depends on it.