NPR really shook up the internet when they tweeted the Declaration of Independence line by line in celebration of the Fourth of July. Just a reminder: Indepence Day is a celebration of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, so tweeting it for the holiday is a totally reasonable and appropriate thing to do. But not everyone saw it that way.
Some ~enthusiastic~ individuals saw some of the tweets, specifically the ones attacking a “Prince” or “Tyrant,” as a direct attack on the current President of the United States. Ironically, many seemed not to understand that NPR was tweeting the Declaration—and, presumably upon the realization of their mistake, have deleted their tweets. Shocker. But some gems still remain.
Help spread the word and #DefundNPR https://t.co/SBomNXknX6
— Darren Mills (@darren_mills) July 5, 2017
NPR tweeted out the entire Declaration of Independence, and wow… uh… the responses are… something. pic.twitter.com/KurdVurRgW
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) July 5, 2017
One account simply replied “Stop” to each tweet.
Stop
— Lee Solomon (@skyride_season) July 5, 2017
Why are you asking NPR to STOP tweeting the Declaration of Independence on July 4th?
— Umber Darilek (@umberd) July 5, 2017
On the flipside, others saw the dated wording of the Declaration as slightly hypocritical given that the original document left out women and people of color.
So does it count when minorities say it too or naw pic.twitter.com/98dD1OQjhi
— jas (@jas_mrtn) July 5, 2017
Overall, many saw the tweets as a good reminder of the ideals our country was founded upon at a time when some of these basic tenets seem to be forgotten.
#Grateful for this entire thread. Loved seeing the names from each state too.
— Beth Foraker (@inclusionchick) July 5, 2017
In the end, it’s awfully hard to argue that NPR’s Twitter spree was unwarranted given the historical context of the Fourth of July. Maybe some people need to take a history lesson about our founding documents.