By Richard Rose, President of Communities United for Justice | Atlanta, GA | July 6, 2026

As much of America celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, racial oppression of sub-Saharan Africa and Native descendants continues. The president leads a revival of hate with white evangelicals constituting the amen corner.   Although the bigotry-fueled oppressive conditions that have been systematically enforced upon black and brown American citizenry have diminished, “making progress” means that the destination of full citizenship has not been reached.

Even if “all men are created equal,” equal treatment under the law is yet a poet’s dream in the United States of America. Not only is the 250th American milestone celebrated without a commitment to fulfill the lofty words enshrined in the declarative document of 1776, the current White House occupant, assisted by a collection of sycophants, is intent on sharpening the swords of repression by usurping established policy and regulation that have slowly bent toward justice. 

The destruction of the Federal civil service system will allow a bigoted bloodbath of HBCU graduates who had more limited corporate opportunities in previous generations. Policies and regulations that denied Native Americans promised relief from 400 years of post-invasion genocidal conditions can be expected to be discarded. Treaties between the USA and various Native Tribes, not worth the paper written on, will remain empty promises of equity and respect. 

The welcoming nation described in Emma Lazarus’ sonnet is but a figment of righteous imagination.  Instead, we are the nation of my baby boomer childhood that was infested with declarations of white supremacy proclaiming,  “whites only” and “colored entrance.”  Executive orders have declared that neither poor nor huddled masses can find freedom on our shores. We are still that nation, without apology.

The states of the former Confederacy lead the way. Gerrymandering of legislative districts uses race flimsily disguised as political differentiation to reduce the voting power of non-whites with Black Americans as the bullseye. Redlining by banks, insurance companies and local councils maintain limited access to healthcare and other life essentials. Southern attitudes see no conflict with American patriotism and waving flags that celebrate the failed insurrection against America, commemorated with assembly-line Confederate soldiers in front of southern courthouses.

 Georgia is home to the largest shrine to white supremacy in the history of the world, yet thousands of Black men and women visit the surrounding park daily, having been acclimated to racial oppression through subliminal messaging such that obvious signs of hate and oppression have been normalized. The Civil War has not ended.  It’s cornerstone that “the negro is not equal to the white man” is still a presumption. 

Knowledge of our true American history can save us. Neither Columbus or anyone else could have discovered a land where millions already lived and thrived.  This fable supports the current myth that America belongs to the paleskins, that there was no American genocide that continues in a modified version, that the enslavement of stolen Africans does not have bearing on the poverty that infects Black communities and that our governments are not currently invested in bigotry. We can do better if we face the realities of America today.

The Declaration of Independence gave America its words. The next 250 years will reveal whether we have the courage to live them.