The Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, which recently produced a chart categorizing hard work, self-reliance, and the nuclear family as attributes of whiteness, describes Juneteenth as “our country’s second Independence Day.” Unfortunately, some news media outlets have followed suit.

The United States is one nation with one people, and we should honor only one Independence Day. It is true that American independence was imperfectly realized in 1776 as slavery continued for generations, but our Declaration of Independence from Britain is the true beginning of our country, and its significance should not be diluted by the confused timelines of subsequent events. The end of slavery is worth celebrating, but it is not the event that defines who we are as a nation, just as 1619, when the first African slaves arrived on these shores, is not the proper date of America’s founding, much though revisionist historians wish to persuade us otherwise.