Donald Trump may have taken over events in Washington around the nation’s 250th birthday, but the president is far removed from most activities in the states that have been part of America from the beginning — the 13 original colonies stretching from New Hampshire to Georgia.
Among the thousands of events planned in those states to commemorate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, most avoid partisan politics and many celebrate diversity and acknowledge past struggles for equal rights, in contrast to the more sanitized vision of America promoted by the White House, a CQ Roll Call survey of the 13 states found.
“We are very apolitical. It’s just the facts, just the facts,” said Molly Fortune, CEO of South Carolina’s planning organization, SC250. “Some facts are ugly, some facts are awful, and some facts are just what they are. So we in South Carolina recognize that it’s complicated and complex, and we want to have those conversations.”
“I hear it over and over again. People say, ‘I can’t get into this. I can’t get excited about this. I’m turned off,’” said Michele W. Johnson, director of the Maryland 250 Commission. “You know what I say to them, whether they’re in Maryland or they’re in another state? I say to all of them, look at what your state 250 commission is doing. The states are doing this semiquincentennial commemoration as it was intended to be.”
