Today marks a hidden holiday, as uncelebrated as it is unappreciated. It was 229 years ago today that the United States ratified the Bill of Rights, ensuring unprecedented freedom for the people of an emerging nation.

Bill of Rights Day has actually been a national holiday since Nov. 28, 1941, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt designated Dec. 15 “Bill of Rights Day.” Roosevelt had big plans, envisioning flag-flying, and ceremonies nationwide. Roosevelt observed that Adolph Hitler feared “our freedom of speech, press, and religion.” Unfortunately, the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7 erased all the ambitious plans to mark the date. There’s no time to celebrate freedom when you’re fighting to preserve it.

That was almost 80 years ago, and America continues to take the Bill of Rights for granted. At just 500 words, it packs more than 20 rights into 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Moreover, the promise of a Bill of Rights was the key to getting the Constitution ratified in the first place.

Given that there won’t be cake or gifts or greeting cards, the best way to celebrate Bill of Rights Day is simply to reflect on its importance. And depending upon your personal priorities, some liberties may loom larger than others.

The National Rifle Association touts the Second Amendment as America’s “first freedom.” That’s either bad math or poetic license, but you get the point. If our government took those freedoms away, you might have to wrest those back with “the right to bear arms.”

Americans with a deep and abiding faith are grateful for the freedom to worship and be free of government interference with their faith.

Those who treasure personal privacy and the sanctity of their homes would be thankful for the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Those who have been accused of a crime would welcome the fair trial guarantees contained in the Sixth Amendment.

All of these liberties are critical to the kind of nation we are, founded on freedom and fairness.

I am particularly grateful, though, for the one-two punch of freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Together they protect our free expression and safeguard the entire Bill of Rights.

The preamble to the Constitution set forth the goal of “a more perfect union.” The phrase was both aspirational and wise. There was no way a fledgling country could get everything right, let alone draw up a blueprint that would guarantee the liberty of every American.

And of course, the Constitution didn’t. Slavery was left intact and women were left without a voice or vote. As lofty as America’s ideals were, there were still inequities and injustices to address.

It would take centuries of free speech and press to illuminate and address the needs of this imperfect union. Although critics of the contemporary press – which includes newspapers, radio stations, television stations, websites, and every other form of informational media – like to use phrases like “fake news, “ the truth is that the newspapers of 1791 were far more biased than their modern descendants. They were largely political organs full of outrage, exaggeration, and lies. Yet it was in that very environment that the American people demanded a free press be a part of the Bill of Rights. They saw it as a check on a new and powerful central government and protection against abuse of the Constitution and yes, the new Bill of Rights. Journalists who do their jobs well today are fulfilling the mission set forth for them in 1791.

The most impressive thing about the Bill of Rights is that a document written 229 years ago remains so vital, vibrant and essential.

The aggressive journalists empowered by the First Amendment have gone on to monitor and irritate every president from John Adams to Donald Trump. The assembled citizens who spoke out against slavery and demanded universal suffrage have contemporary counterparts demanding racial justice today. Those 10 amendments have served us well.

Of course, when it comes to patriotic holidays, none rival Independence Day. But that holiday recalls a nation just starting out, committing in general terms to a nation founded on liberty.

On December 15th, 1791, the first generation of Americans fulfilled that promise. We could love our country, but also voice our concerns about its actions and priorities. That honest exchange of ideas – fueled by freedom of press, speech, and assembly – can make for dissonance and division in our politics. But it also makes for the strongest and most enduring nation on the face of the earth.

Related story:
NENPA and NEFAC are excited to partner on an ad campaign, provided by the Free Speech Center, to recognize the birthday (Dec. 15, 1791) of the ratification of the Bill of Rights

At the Freedom Forum, we’ve thought about creating T-shirts that read: “Free speech: Complicating Thanksgiving Dinner since 1791.”

But this pandemic-era Thanksgiving, as families and friends assemble around a Zoom screen or an actual dining room table to celebrate, all of the freedoms of the First Amendment should be high on the list as we count our blessings.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution set a standard for the world. Our founding fathers said that Americans should have the right — without government interference — to speak their minds, practice a faith or choose not to, publish their ideas, assemble to protest or support a cause and petition the government for change.

“This is what is so great about America,” says social strategist Philippa Hughes. “We should be giving thanks that we can all have these amazing divergent views and nobody’s going to get killed for having these conversations.”

Shocked by the divisions revealed during the 2016 presidential election, Hughes launched a dinner club called Blueberries & Cherries, bringing into her Washington, D.C., dining room die-hard Democrats and righteous Republicans, armed with forks and knives, to discuss their beliefs in hopes of better understanding each other. Each meal ended with a blueberry cherry crisp, deliciously bridging the blue and red divide.

Later, supported by a grant, Hughes expanded her events across the country into Looking for America, which hosts art events and conversations in which people discuss what it means to be American.

Hughes’s goal is to break down the “polarization industrial complex” that’s often fed by social media. “That is a construct we have created,” she says. “There is profit and power to be had from keeping us polarized. I don’t profit from that, so why do we let others profit from that?”

Thanksgiving 2020 brings families together after a wrenching year of political upheaval and a deadly pandemic, when Americans exercised their First Amendment freedoms with newfound vigor:

• People in every state assembled to protest police violence against Black Americans. Citizens also marched in support of the police;
• In the 100th year since women petitioned successfully for the right to vote, voters turned out in record numbers to make California’s Sen. Kamala Harris the first woman and woman of color elected vice president;
• The free press kept people informed of campaign news, social unrest and the latest scientific advice about COVID-19; 
• Faith congregations, which refrained from gathering in person, worshipped through Zoom and Facebook or held drive-in services. Some filed suit, saying government rules restricting attendance violated their religious freedom.

On Thanksgiving, free speech will be at the forefront of your dinner table. Can you, with your Trump 2024 bumper sticker, keep things civil with your niece in the Black Lives Matter T-shirt? Hughes has some advice for how to keep this from being a dinner sponsored by Tums.

“A great way to begin your meal is just to be grateful we can do this and have this conversation at all,” Hughes says. “That’s the beauty of America … You can have deeply held views and express them and we don’t have to hate each other.”

Tip No. 1: Pretend you’re an anthropologist. Be curious and ask questions, but don’t interrogate.

Ask the kind of questions that show you’re listening, Hughes says. “Say, ‘Oh, tell me more about that …’ Try to have a sense of delight and joy about it. It’s fun to hear stories, especially when it’s your family. You had fun with them before; you can continue to have fun.”

Tip No. 2: Share your experiences in a nonthreatening way.

It can be frustrating if the other side does not seem to be curious about you. “Find ways to share yourself — real stories beyond the data and the talking points,” Hughes says.

Tip No. 3: Don’t pepper folks with facts.

When it comes to forming opinions, facts don’t always matter.

Studies have shown that our perceptions are formed more by our experiences — however limited — than anything else, Hughes says. People who are confronted with challenging information tend to dig in their heels rather than open their minds to other possibilities. “People don’t want to feel dumb.”

Tip No. 4: No name-calling. If things get too heated, step away.

Hughes says conservatives may avoid conversations for good reason. “They’ll say … ‘I don’t want to get yelled at or called stupid by the liberals.’ That’s a very valid concern. The left does spend a lot of time calling the other side idiots.”

A liberal in a family of conservatives, Hughes says, “We’ve gotten close to not speaking. If you are close to that, step away, leave the room, get some fresh air. Take a walk together.”

Tip No. 5: Empathy does not equal endorsement.

“We may never reach common ground, but at least we’ll come to an understanding of why the person believes what they … believe,” says Hughes. “The only thing we can agree on is our humanity. We don’t have to agree on policy and how to fix problems.”Final tip: Always pass the dishes to the right. That’s not a political statement, it’s just etiquette.

This column expresses the views of Patty Rhule, vice president of content innovation, Freedom Forum.