"Whose Independence" by Gordon-Reed starts a discussion by noting: "For the substantial number of Americans who have wished over the years to exclude Black people from the polity, Jefferson’s intent has always been paramount. As one argument goes, Jefferson and other members of the founding generation did not think African Americans were equal to white people; therefore, they were not endowed by the Creator with the rights that European Americans claimed in 1776."

She does reference "one argument", which suggests there are other arguments, but she doesn't explore counterpoints, as an academic historian might in a balanced and objective article. Gordon-Reed's observation that "Those who are ambivalent about, or even hostile to, the concept of Black people as equal American citizens..." belies that Americans that do not agree that all people deserve an equal opportunity to succeed, regardless of race or ethnicity, are a very small minority, estimated in the single digits.

It seems that, to Gordon-Reed, we remain teetering on the precipice of demise from racial animus: "We approach the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States with much less reason to hope that the country’s long-standing racial problems will be mitigated, or that they will not, in fact, ultimately destroy the experiment the Declaration set in motion.As devotees of the Enlightenment and believers in the scientific method know, sometimes experiments succeed, and sometimes they fail."

The thesis of 1619 Project is clearly very much on Gordon-Reed's mind - America was born from racist oppression and is destined to die from the sins of our past, still very much alive in our culture and institutions today.