To celebrate Independence Day, Representative Cori Bush (D-MO) launched a Twitter rocket, exclaiming: “When they say that the 4th of July is about American freedom, remember this: the freedom they’re referring to is for White people. This land is stolen land, and Black people still aren’t free.” She was not alone. Former MSNBC anchor Touré explained in his tweet: “F— Independence Day. Not only were we not free, the whole reason the Colonies wanted independence was because Britain was moving toward abolishing slavery. Why would Black people celebrate a day so wrapped up in our enslavement?”
Most others think what is celebrated on July 4 is “[t]he unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America” adopting the Declaration of Independence in 1776. This codified the vote of the Continental Congress two days earlier, on July 2, to “dissolve the political bands which … connected them” to Great Britain and the tyranny of the king. And the first Independence Day celebration took place in Philadelphia four days later, on July 8.
Discussing the congresswoman’s views on Fox News America’s Newsroom, Representative Byron Donalds (R-FL) explained:
“First of all, yes, July 4 Independence Day is to celebrate the freedom of this nation from British tyranny. That’s the purpose of the celebration, and we should all celebrate that. Number two, black people are free in America. That is what has happened since 1865. That is the state of play in 2021 America. So, I look at her tweet; I shake my head, and I don’t agree, and to be truthful, most black people don’t agree with that, and most people don’t agree with that. We live in the greatest country in the world. More black people have accomplished and achieved more while here in the United States than any other country in the world.”
Cori Bush
Picking up on Donalds’ point, Bush’s views on Independence Day seem to attack the very freedoms and liberty that allow her to express her interpretation of July 4. Touré’s assertion that the “whole reason” — no other possible reason, bar none — that the Colonies wanted independence was “because Britain was moving toward abolishing slavery” is not borne out in the Declaration’s precisely listed 27 grievances against Britain and its monarch. And consider this historical point: Great Britain did not abolish slavery until the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, nearly 60 years after the vote on the Declaration. It’s not likely that the representative from Delaware, the First State, would have had Britain’s slavery policy uppermost in his mind when signing the Declaration of Independence.
The fact is, there was no unanimity of views on slavery among the 13 early states. Thomas Jefferson, the primary writer of the Declaration, was against slavery. According to the staff of Founding.com, a project of the Claremont Institute, among the grievances Jefferson favored for the Declaration was “a long passage condemning King George for having failed to suppress the slave trade to America,” something Touré apparently overlooked.
And on the website The Grio, he exclaimed, “F— Fourth of July: The only independence day I recognize is Juneteenth.” As it turns out, Juneteenth commemorates when federal troops arrived in Galveston, TX, in 1865, two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Slavery was still in place in Texas “until U.S. General Gordon Granger stood on Texas soil and read General Order No. 3: ‘The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.'”
With the broad canvas of social media catering to dissenting voices on the left, there will be no shortage of historical revision. Two years ago, Liberty Nation author Jeff Charles identified these folks accurately, in his word portrait, “The Social Justice Warrior’s Guide to Independence Day.” However, the best course is sticking to the facts and applying the truth. Take the prudent advice of Donalds: “I just shake my head and move on.”
The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliation.
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