Woke Milestone: In Order to Be 'Inclusive,' Virginia County Won't 'Celebrate' America's 250th Anniversary

Do you celebrate America, or are you more enlightened?

In Fairfax, Virginia, those in power can proudly profess the latter.

Per July 13th’s Fairfax County, Virginia Board of Supervisors Agenda, the county’s looking ahead to the “Semiquincentennial Anniversary of the American Revolution, the Revolutionary War, and the Independence of the United States of America.”

Due to 2026’s significance, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors have “established a seven-person Work Group charged with providing recommendations to the County Board of Supervisors for the preferred approach.”

At issue: “organizing and leading county-wide efforts for an inclusive observance, celebration, and commemoration…”

One of the initial steps to success regards something of great cultural concern.

“[I]t is important to first address the topic of word choice, language and message,” the group asserts.

So in the spirit of inclusion, what’s to be done?

In order to find out, the committee looked at a state-sponsored probe.

In 2019, the Virginia Tourism Corporation hired Wilkening Consulting for a study titled Americans, Our History and the 250th.

“The analysis conducted,” the report affirms, “was objective, scientific, and inclusive of a very broad and diverse population.”

[T]his study demonstrated the following:

Our values, attitudes, and beliefs affect how we approach the past…and the divisions in our country extend to history.

That history is highly valued…but a lack of inclusion is a barrier to engagement.

Yet the majority hold values about our country that they honor and respect…and will want to acknowledge in 2026

Researchers divided participants into two group — essentially, the woke and unwoke:

[T]his study revealed that on a national scale there are two clusters of values among the broader population, traditional and neoteric (meaning new or modern ideas).

Are you a traditionalist?

The traditional cluster largely values liberty, courage, the American Dream, exceptionalism, and opportunity.

Or are you hip to the new Americanism?

The neoteric cluster values equality, diversity, and tolerance.

Evidently, they went with the woke.

Sixty percent of those surveyed indicated they’d celebrate America’s 250th. However, that figure “skewed heavily to those in the traditional cluster.”

Conversely, the possibility of the 250th only being a celebration of our past was considered inappropriate by many survey respondents…

Such was due to “very real challenges still facing our country and community today.”

The neoteric cluster, which includes a significant part of the broader population, more consistently expressed a desire for the 250th to offer opportunities for a thoughtful, inclusive experience that transcends our founding, embraces our differences, explores our diverse history, and looks to the future and the possibility of increasing equality, justice, and freedom.

Conclusion:

[T]his study recommends the use of the term commemoration in order to ensure that the event is inclusive and that it engages a broad and diverse audience.

“Significant research, study, evaluation, and discussion informed the decision to use the term commemoration,” the report reassures.

Here’s more on the study’s findings, courtesy of The Daily Wire:

[Museum consultant Susie Wilkening], who wrote that her “lived experienced is as a white female” and that her “behaviors skew heavily liberal,” said that she conducted research that found that conservatives…are “non-inclusive” “blind patriots” who have “generally less engagement with community,” are “less curious,” and “tend to be older, more male, less educational attainment.”

Might they also be Trump supporters?

If so, some — including the instructor of an upcoming college course — would probably contend they shouldn’t be accommodated:

College Course Probes the 'Violence' of 'Toxic Masculinity,' Uses an Ex-President as the Example
https://t.co/17q4RgvXhb

— RedState (@RedState) August 19, 2021

Of course, in the end, they weren’t.

The Work Group has spoken:

For all these reasons, while there will clearly be much to celebrate and much that is celebratory in 2026, we believe commemoration is the preferred term for the 250th

At least the celebration — that is, the commemoration — will still occur.

Amid the retrospective, might figures such as George Washington be hailed as great?

I’d say it’s exceedingly unlikely.

But in a way, in light of contemporary social awareness, it’s a miracle we’re even counting the years: