Across our organization, our community and our nation, Americans are reeling. We are reeling from the horror of bearing witness to the killing of an African American man in the custody of those entrusted to protect him and all members of our communities. We are reeling from the fury it has unleashed across our nation. And we are reeling from racial inequality that divides us from one another.
In difficult times, our nation has historically found its greatest hopes in the words of the Declaration of Independence, our most sacred founding document.
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 these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
As it was at our nation’s birth, and in the history of institutions such as our own, we must acknowledge the truth that America’s reality today continues to fall short of this ambition. It is beyond time that the ideals embedded in the Declaration of Independence are realized for everyone.
Today, and evermore, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation affirms our commitment to stand with all people denied these liberties, by helping to create the world envisioned in the Declaration of Independence through education, outreach and constant examination of our nation’s past. This is our work and we will not rest until these rights and the promise of equality are fully realized by all Americans.