With America’s 250th birthday just weeks away, communities across the country are preparing to celebrate one of the most significant milestones in the nation’s history. Not everyone is in a festive mood, however. On Sunday, MS NOW host Ali Velshi told viewers the approaching anniversary fills him with “deep unease” because America “never actually fully reckoned with its racist past and its original founding sin of slavery.”
Velshi began:
Anniversaries are imperfect records of the thing which is being celebrated. In America’s case, anniversaries often gloss over the racial dynamics underlying much of America’s history and politics, issues that remain unsolved, because America has never actually fully reckoned with its racist past and its original founding sin of slavery.In one month, America will mark the 250th anniversary of its founding. Like previous anniversaries, there is a deep unease about this. I feel a deep unease about these celebrations to which I am invited to mark the 250th anniversary of our so-called democracy.Because this 250th anniversary is taking place during yet another period of deep and fundamental and existential unrest in this country, brought on by the country’s unresolved racial politics. That’s what this is.
Mediaite reported the rest of Velshi’s rant:
Women and Black Americans have seen their rights taken away. The Voting Rights Act has effectively been gutted. A number of states are continuing to gerrymander their congressional maps ahead of the midterm elections, with the explicit effect of taking away political power from Black Americans.Louisiana did exactly that. Just a few days ago, it passed a new map that eliminated Black majority districts.If you’ve got conflicting feelings about America’s upcoming anniversary — like you want to celebrate the ideals that America strives for, which are noble and should be celebrated, but lament the state of the country — you’re not alone. At least I’m with you on this.
The outlet reports that Velshi was born in Kenya, grew up in Canada, and became a U.S. citizen in 2015.
Velshi is best known for his coverage of the George Floyd riots in Minneapolis in May 2020. As the city’s police station burned in the background and the riot swirled around him, he reported, “This is mostly a protest. It is not, generally speaking, unruly.”
Mary covered this story at the time.
One X user put it bluntly: If he feels such “deep unease” about celebrating the 250th birthday of his adopted nation — the country that welcomed him and afforded him the opportunities he enjoys today — then he should “get the hell out.”
https://x.com/pmurphey47/status/2061469475275157672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on LinkedIn.
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