Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) is taking aim at the Declaration of Independence, the United States’s 245-year-old founding document.
In a tweet on July 4, Waters wrote, “So, the Declaration of Independence says all men are created equal. Equal to what? What men? Only white men? Isn’t it something that they wrote this in 1776 when African Americans were enslaved? They weren’t thinking about us then, but we’re thinking about us now!”
She continued, “Further, the [Declaration of Independence] says we hold these truths to be ‘self-evident,'” adding, “Yet: 17 states have enacted voter suppression laws; Supreme Court gutted Sec. 5 of the Voting Rights Act; George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice. Need I say more?”
Additionally, National Public Radio (NPR) wrote in an article about the Declaration of Independence, “It famously declares ‘that all men are created equal’ even though women, enslaved people and Indigenous Americans were not held as equal at the time.”
“The declaration is a document with flaws and deeply ingrained hypocrisies. It also laid the foundation for our collective aspirations, our hopes for what America could be,” the publication also wrote.
Further, the Dec. of Ind. says we hold these truths to be "self-evident"… yet:
— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) July 4, 2021
– 17 states have enacted voter suppression laws
– Supreme Court gutted Sec. 5 of the Voting Rights Act
– George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice
Need I say more? #July4
Another Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), made headlines with her tweet on Sunday, “When they say that the 4th of July is about American freedom, remember this: the freedom they’re referring to is for white people.”
Bush, who is a member of “the Squad,” added, “This land is stolen land and Black people still aren’t free.”
Her remarks drew a response from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who replied, “Hateful, divisive lies.”
Hateful, divisive lies.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 5, 2021
The Left hates America. Believe them when they tell you this.
Two years ago, Colin Kaepernick tried to spread the same lies on July 4. I responded with the wisdom of the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass:https://t.co/XPTXlFRrP6 https://t.co/a2PAKMukMa
3/x Douglass closed, “I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing encouragement from ‘the Declaration of Independence,’ the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age.”
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 5, 2021
5/x All of us should reject fear & anger. We should fight to further our Nation’s founding promise that “all men are created equal.”
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 5, 2021
And we should be encouraged by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s exhortation, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
However, President Joe Biden thanked frontline and essential workers in his message on the Fourth of July, as IJR reported on.
“This Fourth of July, America is back. We’re headed into a summer of joy – of freedom – thanks to the millions of Americans who stepped up to get vaccinated,” Biden tweeted. “To the frontline and essential workers who have made this day possible: thank you.”
Additionally, Vice President Kamala Harris tweeted, “This Independence Day, we honor the servicemembers who protect our nation. And we say thank you to the frontline workers — and all Americans — who are doing the work to end this pandemic”