DONALD TRUMP'S plan for a unified Independence Day celebration has gone up in smoke after the decision to hold a firework display at Mount Rushmore was slammed by a number of native american activists.
The President is due to visit the site on July 3 as part of his "comeback" campaign as America begins to pick itself up following the destructive impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
As part of the festivities at the 79-year-old stone monument in South Dakota, there's to be a firework and air-show display with fast jets, big lights and loud noises. You know, American stuff *wink*.
But the decision to host the celebration at Mount Rushmore has been criticised by a number of native american activists who view the monument as desecration of indigenous land which was stolen from them by white settlers.
"Mount Rushmore is a symbol of white supremacy, of structural racism that's still alive and well in society today," said Nick Tilsen, a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe and president of a local activist group called NDN Collective.
"It's an injustice to actively steal indigenous people's land then carve white faces of the conquerors who committed genocide."
It's the first time since 2009 that such festivities have been held at Mount Rushmore, but in light of the recent social campaigns against racism and the reconsideration of symbols of historic oppression, the decision to hold a 4th of July bash there has drawn controversy.
