On July 4, the world’s greatest super power, both in terms of economy and military- the United States of America-celebrated its 244th independence day, commonly known as the Fourth of July. The day is also a holiday to commemorate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. However, Independence Day on July 4,2020 was held amidst growing concerns over COVID-19 that has swept across the US. Under the 45th president Donald Trump, America appears to have exposed the fissures within over race and religion. Nevertheless, that does not take away the popular notion, that America is the melting pot of the world comprising of immigrants from almost every corner of the globe and who have absolute freedom to practice their religions. This is clearly amplified by the country’s 44th President Barack Obama, the first African American and son of a Kenyan Muslim and American mother. Americans observe their independence day with public events, parades, shows and fireworks displays. The core value of the Declaration f Independence states: “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.” America prides itself as a nation that upholds equality and justice for all humans. The white immigrants who declared independence were not indigenous to the new nation. The indigenous inhabitants were the various tribes who were called as “Red Indians”. The founding fathers who made their Declaration of Independence, looked upon the “red Indians” as merciless savages, who only knew warfare. In their quest to rule over the new nation, the federal government, U.S. Army, and many white settlers forced countless native Americans off their lands, away from ancient hunting grounds, and onto reservations. The most infamous was the removal of native Americans in 1838, when the Cherokee nation was strongly pressured to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. Another tragic example of U.S. injustices toward Native Americans came on December 29, 1890, when the U.S. Army’s 7th Cavalry surrounded a Lakota Sioux camp near Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota and massacred between 150 to 300 men, women and children. According to a report by the US Civil Rights Commission, native Americans still suffer higher rates of poverty, poor educational achievement, substandard housing, and higher rates of disease and illness. Native Americans living on tribal lands do not have access to the same services and programs available to other Americans, even though the government has a binding trust obligation to provide them. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1980 that the government had illegally seized the Black Hills and ordered tribes be compensated nearly $106 million. The tribes refused the money, wanting the land returned instead. Today, those funds, worth more than $1 billion with interest, sit untouched in Treasury Department coffers. Ironically, the Declaration of Independence as it may, unfortunately does not include the native Americans who have been corralled inside reservations. Thus, the dichotomy of face of democracy in America is telling indeed.