The essay, "Fourth of July", was written by an African American female by the name of Andre Lorde. She divides the essay into two parts: her excitement about her family summer trip to Washington, D.C., in 1947 and the transition point in her life when she grows up due to racism. During this period of history in the United States, blacks and whites were treated differently in regards to education, economics, and socialization. These differences resulted from extreme racism and prejudice towards African Americans throughout the U.S. In the essay, Lorde describes the excitement she felt before her family trip, her reaction to her first encounter of racism while on this trip, and how her parents did or did not deal with this racism.
             Before her family's trip, Lorde was unaware of prejudice and racism found all over America at this time. This important information was never explained to her, thus her innocence retained. The trip was highly anticipated by her and her family, as Audre recalls packing for a week and preparations being made before school had got out. At this time the excitement with in Lorde was so built up that she could identify the foods her mom packed for them and where she was when she stopped eating them. Lorde's views and ideas are still child-like, emphasizing more on the simplistic nature of life. On her train ride to Washington, this is apparent when, Audre's mother gives her an explanation for why they did not eat in the dining car, "... food always cost more money and besides, you never could tell whose hands had been playing all over that food, nor where those same hands had been just before." After her "D.C. experience", Lorde realizes that it is not the filth of the hands !
             that kept her from eating, but the filth of racism.
             To Audre Lorde, this particular Fourth of July was when she finally had to grow up and reevaluate hers
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