For some people, America’s 250th anniversary feels like a birthday party. All fun, all cheers.
For Nichelle M. Hayes, the more appropriate comparison is a family reunion. Some cousins you can’t wait to see.
Others … not so much.
“That’s really what I feel when I think of America,” Hayes said.
For America’s 250th anniversary, Mirror Indy asked four Indianapolis residents about their complicated relationships with the country.
Nichelle M. Hayes
Nichelle M. Hayes holds a photo of her father, Ronzo L. Hayes, and the funeral flag of her grandfather, William Cox, on Aug. 14, 2026, in Indianapolis. Her father served in the U.S. Air Force and her grandfather served in the Army and Navy. Credit: Jenna Watson/Mirror Indy
Hayes, 59, is the former interim CEO of the Indianapolis Public Library, a historian and genealogist. She traces her maternal lineage back around 200 years.
With that comes pride.
“The United States of America is my country,” Hayes said. “Born and raised here.”
But the long familial line also includes ancestors who were enslaved.
“Our country would not be where it is right now,” Hayes said, “without that blood, sweat and tears.”
Which is why Hayes sees America’s 250th anniversary as an invitation to both reflect and look forward.
“I think we can chart a path for ourselves,” she said, “but it’s gonna have to be some introspection. And we’re gonna have to dig deep and have some conversations that are uncomfortable.”
Calvin Gary
For Calvin Gary, America’s 250th anniversary is a reminder of what seems so obvious when he looks around him.
“They help out the middle class and most fortunate,” he said. “Not the ones who fall to the bottom.”
Gary, 46, counts himself among the bottom.
He’s homeless here, along with his pregnant and diabetic wife. Gary gives her insulin shots in the back of the arm every morning and night, plus at meals. He said it’s hard living outside and seeing other people get the help he feels like he and his wife deserve.
“We sleep in the rain and heat with our service dogs,” Gary texted during an August storm.
But Gary does see some beauty in America — specifically in his original South Florida home.
“The beaches and the water are gorgeous,” he said.
John Read
No social media. No news media.
John Read prefers it that way. It helps him keep a clear head.
“I try to see the best of things,” he said.
Read, 60, sees America’s 250th anniversary from the perspective of someone who grew up coming out of the Civil Rights Movement. It felt like things were changing then, he said.
Now, Read doesn’t feel the same way.
“I can sit here and rage all I want,” he said, “but I can’t change anything.”
Jarrod Dortch
Jarrod Dortch doesn’t see just one way of viewing American history and its connection to the present day. Whether you like the country or not, he said, there can be multiple truths for everyone.
“What we’re going through right now is expected,” Dortch said as he taped off a utility box at Highland Park for a mural he was working on.
Dortch, 45, owns Gallery 317, an art gallery on the east side near the park. He said he loves America, although his expectations aren’t high.
“I don’t expect anything less from a country that was built on the backs of slaves,” he said.
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Mirror Indy reporter Tyler Fenwick covers housing and labor. Contact him at 317-766-1406 or tyler.fenwick@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @ty_fenwick and Bluesky @tyfenwick.bsky.social.
This story, and ArcFest 2026 — a festival centered around democracy, justice and freedom of expression — are presented as part of a national effort by local newsrooms to reflect on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
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