MSNBC host Reverend Al Sharpton used his platform at a major civil rights gathering this week to argue that Americas approaching 250th birthday is not an occasion Black Americans should embrace as their own.
Speaking at the National Action Networks 35th Anniversary National Convention, Sharpton dismissed the upcoming semiquincentennial, declaring, "They're going to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the country July 4th, but that's not our celebration." According to Fox News, he framed the nations founding as a moment that excluded Black Americans, insisting that the historical reality of slavery makes the idea of a shared national celebration fundamentally flawed.
Sharpton elaborated on that point by invoking the era of the Founding Fathers, saying, "We were slaves then, and they celebrate signing the Declaration of Independence 1776. We were not even emancipated until 1863. So I don't know what everybody getting ready for a celebration [for]. You know that it seems crazy for me to have on the birthday hat at your birthday party. That ain't my party." He suggested he might instead organize a separate rally in Philadelphia, while lamenting that younger generations are not being taught what he called Black Americans "background," a problem he blamed on President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for pushing back against woke ideology in education.
Sharpton argued that this lack of historical context fuels racial division, particularly among younger White Americans. "When White kids hear us talking about reparations or affirmative action, they think it's an attack because they don't know what their granddaddy did to us," Sharpton said.
The activist, who has long opposed efforts to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, has threatened boycotts against corporations that have scaled back DEI since President Trumps second term began. He has also accused DeSantis of trying to "erase Black history" after the governors administration sought revisions to an AP African American studies course in 2023.
Joining Sharpton at the convention, Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, pressed for a more expansive federal role in addressing historical grievances tied to slavery. "We need a Secretary of Reconciliation just as we have a Secretary of Education, a Secretary of Labor. We need a Secretary of Reconciliation who would report directly to a president, not this president, directly to a president. And the job would be to reconcile our differences," Green said.
Green made clear that such a department would be a vehicle for race-based reparations, a policy many conservatives view as divisive and fundamentally at odds with equal treatment under the law. He added, "And that reconciliation, for me, I say this with no shame, no embarrassment. I am unapologetically Black, and I say this: that would include reparations. Reparations for the 240 years of free labor that people still benefit today from and that we were locked out of opportunities along the way while they were benefiting."
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