{"id":586,"date":"2026-06-19T14:12:56","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T14:12:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=586"},"modified":"2026-06-19T14:12:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T14:12:56","slug":"obama-center-opening-ceremony-land-acknowledgement-draws-ridicule-mockery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=586","title":{"rendered":"Obama Center Opening Ceremony Land Acknowledgement Draws Ridicule, Mockery"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Thursday\u2019s grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago has drawn ridicule and charges of hypocrisy after starting with a bizarre \u201cland acknowledgment ritual\u201d led by former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett.<\/p>\n

Read more Democratic Socialists Gain Ground in Major City Races<\/a><\/p>\n

According to Fox News, Jarrett kicked off the proceedings with a performative acknowledgement to commemorate the Native Americans who once lived on the land where the event was being held.<\/p>\n

\n

STOLEN LAND: Obama knew he was building his presidential library on stolen tribal lands and yet built anyway. During the opening ceremony the speaker read a land acknowledgement admitted to the theft. It is the perfect symbol of progressive politics: confess the sin, change\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/0wbhaC2xM5<\/p>\n

\u2014 @amuse (@amuse) June 18, 2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nJarrett\u2019s comments were a reflection of the left-wing belief that the United States exists on \u201cstolen land.\u201d<\/p>\n

Online observers were quick to point out that Democrats hosting the presidential center opening have no intention of giving the land back to the people they say are the rightful owners.<\/p>\n

Beth Anne Mumford of Americans for Prosperity noted, \u201cLand acknowledgements are funny because the real message is \u2018I want to say I care, but I don\u2019t really care or I wouldn\u2019t have built this on land which I just said is yours.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Conservative commentator Stephen Miller, in a post on X, called out the Democratic organizers of the grand opening, saying, \u201cSo you just went ahead and\u00a0built on that land anyway, huh.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Cook Political Report Shifts Seven House Races Toward Democrats<\/a><\/p>\n

The event drew a number of high-profile Democrats, including former Vice President\u00a0Kamala Harris, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State and failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.<\/p>\n

A number of A-list performers were present at the event including Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks, David Letterman, John Legend, Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen\u2013who performed a concert for the event.<\/p>\n

The Obama Presidential Center has been embroiled in controversy, costing nearly $1 billion to build after it was initially estimated to cost about half that amount.<\/p>\n

Despite claims that the center would help uplift minority-owned contracting businesses by hiring them to work on high-profile projects, some say they\u2019ve been stiffed and are facing financial ruin, according to a Fox News Digital investigation.<\/p>\n

The project has seen numerous delays since it was announced in 2015 with groundbreaking delayed until 2021 due to numerous local and federal approvals to build on the location, which is a historic preservation site, multiple environmental reviews and was subject to several lawsuits.<\/p>\n

Read more Baseball Team Forfeits Game After Players Decline to Wear Pride Night Jerseys<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thursday\u2019s grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago has drawn ridicule and charges of hypocrisy after starting with a bizarre \u201cland\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":585,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obama"],"yoast_head":"\nObama Center Opening Ceremony Land Acknowledgement Draws Ridicule, Mockery - Urban Economy news<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=586\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Obama Center Opening Ceremony Land Acknowledgement Draws Ridicule, Mockery - 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