Power Line features an excellent essay on the history of the Liberty Bell, and how the historically ignorant are misrepresenting it in its new setting. A sample:

The Liberty Bell was little known until it was shown to a group of abolitionists in the 1830's. They were struck by the universality of its Biblical message and it was they who named it the Liberty Bell. The bell became famous because a prominent abolitionist newspaper put the bell and its inscription on the paper's masthead.

Given this history, for a black person to say that he "doesn't feel included" when he contemplates the Liberty Bell is like an Italian claiming to feel excluded on Columbus Day, or a Scandinavian who says he feels "left out" when he goes to a Minnesota Vikings game. Or an Irishman who goes to Notre Dame and....Well, you get the point.

As always, read the whole thing, and check out some of their other excellent posts.

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