On his Saturday morning show First Of All, CNN anchor Victor Blackwell felt it necessary to proclaim that the Declaration of Independence is racist. Happy 4th of July! CNN anchor Victor Blackwell devoted a segment to "Grievance 27" in the Declaration of Independence and its language about "merciless Indian savages" and the Founders having a "deep hatred for indigenous people." Don't watch CNN this weekend. pic.twitter.com/t61UJTMWWp — Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) June 29, 2026 BLACKWELL: There is a slur in America's founding documents. And we all know about this passage from the Declaration of independence adopted 250 years ago next week that “we hold these truths to be self-evident. That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among them are Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” But farther down in the Declaration is a list of grievances against the king. A series of reasons the colonies wanted to split from the United Kingdom. And this is the final one. "He has excited domestic insurrections among us and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.” Merciless Indian savages. Words in the Declaration of Independence largely forgotten that line and Native Americans place in the celebrations of the 250 years since our nation's founding. Blackwell is not the first one on the bandwagon. NPR did it in 2021, under the headline “Examining A Racist Passage In The Declaration Of Independence.” Anchor Ari Shapiro underlined this language in "Grievance 27" was used to "perpetuate genocide, stealing of land and other crimes against Indigenous people." But that segment had more nuance than CNN. CNN promoted a Cherokee podcaster named Rebecca Nagle, who proclaimed: “I think that we're all used to celebrating the lofty Enlightenment ideals that are there in the Declaration of Independence. But right alongside those was actually our founders' deep hatred for indigenous people. And the line about merciless Indian savages. It's actually not a throwaway line.” Naturally, CNN wants us to feel guilty about celebrating the country’s anniversary: “I think for Native people, the founding of the U.S. government feels a lot different, because instead of getting more freedom or more liberty. For a lot of tribes, it was less. And I think this is a really hard part of the story of the revolution that's often left out.” This is not the way CNN would celebrate Gay Pride Month. "Let's tell you some stories about why you shouldn't be Proud." It didn’t take long for Blackwell to take our historic racism to current events: “I'll say, specifically the deportation efforts in Minneapolis, where people are saying this is un-American. This is not of America. And you focus on some of this in the podcast, that detachment from it suggests that this is something that is new in our country.” Nagle talked about how Indians were interned in a “concentration camp” at Fort Snelling in Minneapolis in the 1860s, and that’s where ICE was now stationed to enforce immigration laws, and she mentioned the death of Renee Good. Nagle claimed: And so what you saw in Minneapolis was, you know, our government rounding people up, detaining people, and literally doing that in the same place. And so, so much of what our government is doing, you know, it's not that our government has never done this before. You know, our government has actually done this, not once, not twice, but many times. Maybe CNN should replay this during all their Fourth of July coverage this weekend. Guilt trips in heavy rotation. "Your government is routinely inhumane. Have another beer."