Our country still needs leaders who didn’t nurse grievances but chose the path of radical grace.

By Robert L. Woodson, Sr.

The 250th birthday of the United States presents a unique moment to celebrate beyond flag-waving, anthem-singing and praising the wisdom of the Founding Fathers. Though meaningful, such rituals become empty without moral reflection.

Which victories, exactly, are we celebrating? And what kind of nation are we calling ourselves and our posterity to be?

Over the past decade, American history has been weaponized to convince its people that we are irredeemably defined by our worst chapters—especially the moral darkness of slavery. Black children are increasingly taught to believe they live in a country that fundamentally thinks less of them. White children are told they are inherently guilty because they are “privileged oppressors.”

Both messages produce the same outcome: a diminished sense of human value, the erosion of self-respect and collapse of social trust. A people convinced they are powerless will eventually live as though they are. The past should be a teacher, not a jailer. People don’t rise when they are taught helplessness. They are motivated to rise when they are shown examples of what is possible.

The biblical narrative offers a blueprint for this distinction. The Israelites were commanded never to forget their bondage in Egypt—not so they would remain victims forever, but so they would never become Pharaoh to another people. Memory was meant to sharpen conscience, not keep people permanently wounded.

America must remember its own Egypt in that exact spirit. The evils of slavery should never be forgotten—but neither should they be used as a permanent indictment against the nation. They should serve as a moral guardrail reminding us that greatness is neither inherited nor guaranteed; it must be earned, defended and renewed. Slavery reminds us of the capacity for cruelty within every society and why we must remain humble, vigilant and committed to justice.

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