July 7, 2026

An extreme heat wave caused cancellations of what would have been nauseating public displays of patriotism and jingoism in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and elsewhere. The occasion was the 250th anniversary of the so-called founding of the U.S. with the announcement of the “Declaration of Independence” on July 4, 1776.

Despite the build-up for events like this one, anniversaries have come and gone. But their legacies cannot be ignored.

In this case, when the Declaration was signed, Indigenous peoples had already suffered centuries of a heinous, genocidal theft of their lands throughout the Americas that originated with the criminal explorer, Christopher Columbus. Also at the time of the signing, almost 50 signers, led by Thomas Jefferson, were enslavers of kidnapped African peoples.

As the late, socially conscious comedian, George Carlin, stated in one of his brilliant routines, there was a “double standard” of the signers wanting to be free of British colonial rule while uplifting the institution of enslavement. This cannot be underestimated. In addition, many of these signers became rich property owners off of stolen Indigenous lands.

That was then, but what about 250 years later? What is the legacy today of what happened 250 years ago? Have class relations, including racism and national oppression, been eradicated? The answer is emphatically NO!

Ruler #47 is a staunch white supremacist, a misogynist, xenophobic, pro-war and anti-worker. He has attempted to promote a sanitized version of the horrors of enslavement in federal parks and other national institutions. His administration gave the green light to hundreds of white fascists, many of them supporters of #47’s MAGA group, to parade through the streets of Washington, D.C., on July 4, mingling U.S. flags and flags of the enslavers’ Confederacy, with their entire faces covered. There were no reports of the police harassing any of these fascists as they usually would do to demonstrators at an anti-racist march.

A similar march took place a century ago on July 4, 1926, by the Ku Klux Klan in Washington, D.C., when white supremacist Calvin Coolidge was president. Talk about history repeating itself.

The 47th head of the U.S. capitalist state has also unleashed his fascist goons, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, on migrants, especially migrants from the Global South. This racist war has officially resulted in the deaths of over 50 migrants since 2025, mainly in oppressive detention centers. While a Republican president is responsible for these crimes, it should never be forgotten that when Democratic President Barack Obama was in office, his administration deported a record 2 million migrants — another example of history repeating itself.

Making huge profits while workers suffer

Along with all the repression that #47 has unleashed, another crime is the $2 billion he and his family have pulled in since he began his second term by abusing presidential power. He increased family wealth mainly from investments made in his speculative cryptocurrency called $TRUMP –– some $636 million alone from $TRUMP. Many other investors lost money from the same speculative scheme.

Maybe this big ripoff is why he publicly stated that he loves inflation — higher prices that have lowered workers’ standard of living.

#47 has been a billionaire since the 1970s, but the major difference now is that he is a billionaire who occupies the White House. His main task includes being the administrator of the huge capitalist state apparatus, incorporating the Pentagon, Homeland Security (including ICE, the Border Patrol), the Department of Justice, etc.

He is not alone with this wealth. The massive “No Kings” protests over the past year have focused on the crimes of #47 as an individual billionaire, but he is part of the billionaire class that collectively pulls the political strings of the state apparatus, whether a Republican or Democrat occupies the White House. Their capitalist system prioritizes profits at the expense of meeting the needs of the workers and oppressed peoples.

It is no wonder that there was less enthusiasm for the 250th anniversary among the U.S. population than the rulers expected. Millions of people compare the ongoing U.S.-backed Zionist genocide of the Palestinian people and the war on Iran with the over-the-top propaganda about “Independence” and realize who the criminal is. And tens of millions of others have begun to realize they are paying for these criminal wars.

It is time for the workers and oppressed to recognize that #47 is not the sole cause of these crimes, but it is the entire billionaire class and their rotten system that must be uprooted.