Any day is a good day to criticize America’s history of slavery and to support African Americans celebrating their emancipation. But maybe (just maybe!) doing so falls a little flat if you’ve spent the past month indiscriminatingly incarcerating children of color.
Today is Juneteenth Day, a day African Americans chose to celebrate their emancipation. The White House Twitter account issued a statement from the president this morning, praising emancipation and reiterating a popular phrase from the Declaration of Independence.
As a Nation, we vow to never forget the millions of African Americans who suffered the evils of slavery. Together, we honor the unbreakable spirit and countless contributions of generations of African Americans to the story of American greatness. Today and every day, we recommit ourselves to defending the self-evident truth, boldly declared by our Founding Fathers, that all people are created equal.
The Founding Fathers, as we now know, were exclusively white, and it took this nation another 200 years to extend the promise of equality made in that document to African Americans.
And it’s one we routinely fail to live up too, especially this month, when President Donald Trump and his associates ordered a “zero tolerance” policy for people attempting to immigrate into the nation.
Are you really recommitting yourself to “defending the self-evident truth, boldly declared by our Founding Fathers, that all people are created equal”?
Maybe not, you know?
Our govt spits out this disingenuous garbage, "all people are created equal", while creating the most xenophobic policies in a long time. Today is cancelled. https://t.co/17JBOeJwkB
— Sam (@sammychammy) June 19, 2018
Unless they're seeking asylum. https://t.co/cQawWAkHNL
— John😎😎 NO LISTS ….. PLEASE (@benbrookjohn) June 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/ericeatsout/status/1009079766425600006
Except, of course, those children who we feel should be separated from their families and thrown into cages due to their choice of being born on the wrong side of a river. #SeperatingFamilies https://t.co/tVRK4FqEUX
— Antonio Alfonso, Jr. (@TonyzTone) June 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/rdowns/status/1009077721035624448
https://twitter.com/tuesjay/status/1009078035092557825
https://twitter.com/stephenmatlock/status/1009078158107107329
Define "all", if you would, @POTUS. https://t.co/NSOdcc0SMh
— Dan Doherty (@ddohertyjr) June 19, 2018
There’s also the reminder that the president is a birther.
https://twitter.com/freemanthewhiz/status/1009079021865439232
OK, maybe it rings A LOT hollow.