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A Nantucket church on the exclusive Massachusetts island long favored by former President Joe Biden canceled its annual Fourth of July reading of America’s founding documents, citing an effort to understand “our own whiteness” and drawing sharp criticism from conservatives.
“Our cancelling the 4th of July celebration this year reflects … an on-going process within the congregation to better understand our own whiteness,” wrote Nantucket Unitarian Universalists (NUU) and the Rev. Erin Splaine of the Second Congregational Meeting House Society in a letter published by the Nantucket Current on Thursday.
The historic Nantucket Unitarian Meeting House has hosted a public reading of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights in downtown Nantucket each Fourth of July holiday for the past 25 years.
The decision comes as communities across the country prepare for events tied to America’s upcoming semiquincentennial celebrations, sparking criticism from social media users amid a broader debate over how the nation’s founding documents should be commemorated.
THE UNWINNABLE WAR AMERICA’S FOUNDING FATHERS FOUGHT AND WON CHANGED HUMAN HISTORY FOREVER
President Joe Biden carries a milkshake while visiting Nantucket for the Thanksgiving holiday in 2023. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Church leaders said the decision reflects ongoing conversations within the congregation about race, privilege and the historical application of constitutional rights.
“For those of us who are white the experience of the Rights and Privileges conferred by the Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights, and the Constitution of the United States have, for centuries, been tragically, often violently, and unequally applied to fellow citizens who are not white,” the letter explained.
In previous years, local leaders and the island’s chamber of commerce had promoted the event on social media platforms for all to attend to celebrate…
