Real Patriots Face Reality

Guest Opinion

By Karen Mulvahill | June 13, 2026

"The best friend of a nation is he who most faithfully rebukes her for her sins—and he her worst enemy who, under the specious … garb of patriotism seeks to excuse, palliate or defend them." –Frederick Douglass

As we approach the 250th anniversary of our country’s Declaration of Independence, there is a blatant effort underway by our current administration to rewrite history, under the misnomer “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”

The purpose is to correct supposedly negative narratives and present “our Nation’s unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights, and human happiness.” Combined with the administration’s goal to end diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, a key result is the erasure from the historical record of many of the accomplishments of women, people of color, Native Americans, the LGBTQ+ community, and the disabled.

When the Defense Department was ordered to eliminate all diversity, equity, and inclusion material from its websites, it removed approximately 26,000 images. Four out of five depicted women, people in the LGBTQ+ community, and racial minorities. The Department of the Interior removed Independence Hall’s slavery exhibit, which included a memorial to people enslaved by George Washington at the site of his Philadelphia residence.

Attempts were made on government databases to minimize Harriet Tubman’s role in the Underground Railroad, eliminate mention of Jackie Robinson’s military service, and erase the Tuskegee Airmen and the Navajo Code Talkers. These efforts were met with such public outrage that the information was reinstated. But many other historical facts that honor minority groups or their members have disappeared.

Concurrently, statues of white men who led the Confederacy and fought for their “right” to own Black people have been reinstated, even in our capital. The names of military bases are being changed back to honor such men, even though expressly prohibited by Congress in 2020.

We are fortunate that our history includes many people of integrity and courage who were willing to criticize our country in an effort to make it better. As July 4 nears, let’s celebrate them and be inspired by them to stand up for our values.

Frederick Douglass had escaped enslavement in 1838 and eventually began speaking before large crowds in the north about the evils of slavery. Because of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, at any moment he could’ve been captured and returned to his “owner.” Yet he persisted, despite angry mobs and the threat of re-enslavement.

In 1877, Chief Joseph refused the U.S. government’s order that his Nez Perce tribe leave their homeland in Oregon to make room for further white settlement. Government troops attacked and pursued them over 1,300 miles as they attempted to escape to Canada. They were captured and forced to settle on a reservation in Kansas. “The earth is the mother of all people,” said Chief Joseph in a speech in 1879, “and all people should have equal rights upon it.”

Margaret Chase Smith, the first woman senator, spoke out against Joseph McCarthy and her fellow Republicans for playing upon the public’s fear of communism. In the early 1950s, Joseph McCarthy’s unfounded accusations of Communists in the government caught fire in Washington and ruined many people’s lives. “It is high time that we all stopped being tools and victims of totalitarian techniques … that … will surely end what we have come to cherish as the American way of life.” Only six other Republican senators supported her. However, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and McCarthy was ultimately disgraced.

Ron Kovic became an anti-Vietnam War activist following his paralysis in 1968 from a battlefield injury. He led sit-ins, hunger strikes, and protests against the war and worked to draw attention to the poor treatment provided to soldiers by the Veterans Administration. “I have come to believe there is nothing in the lives of human beings more terrifying than war and nothing more important than for those of us who have experienced it to share its awful truth,” he said.

As a young man, John Lewis participated in civil rights sit-ins and protests, for which he was severely beaten and arrested on more than one occasion. He led the “Bloody Sunday” march in Selma, Alabama, in 1965 that culminated in police violence against the non-violent protestors. He continued to work for civil rights, ultimately as a Representative in the House, until his death in 2020. He once said, “Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and redeem the soul of America.”

In eulogizing John Lewis, President Obama said that he embodied “that idea that any of us ordinary people … can somehow point out the imperfections of this nation and come together and challenge the status quo … to remake this country that we love until it more closely aligns with our highest ideals.”

Eight million of us “ordinary people” showed up for the most recent No Kings protest. I find that inspiring.

Karen Mulvahill is a writer living in northern Michigan. Her new book, The Lost Woman, is now available.