As the U.S. celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, some Black residents in Jacksonville are questioning whether the country is living up to its founding ideals.

Local Concerns

Anthropologist Johnnetta Betsch Cole, a Jacksonville native, says the country is removing freedoms that were declared for its citizens. Cole believes that the very tenets of democracy are being chipped away.

Black people have been central to American public policy and freedom since before July 4, 1776. An earlier draft of the Declaration of Independence contained a clause that decried slavery in the British colonies, but it was removed from the final draft.

Redistricting and Voting Rights

ACLU Florida Executive Director Bacardi Jackson says the voting rights and civil liberties of Floridians are under attack. Jackson criticized the Florida Legislature’s approval of mid-decade redistricting, which could return Florida’s congressional delegation to one-party control.

Minority advocacy group Florida Rising’s chief advocacy and political officer, Moné Holder, says Florida’s redistricting discussion is another example of legislative policies that targeted communities of color.

Some Black residents in Jacksonville are voicing concerns about the erosion of American democracy, the fracture of voting rights protections, and attacks on civil liberties. Many of them declined to be directly quoted or identified in this story for fear of personal and professional repercussions.

Original reporting: Jacksonville Today — read the source article.