If we set a standard that “all men are created equal,” shouldn’t we hold all people to that standard, regardless of race, gender, or religious beliefs?Ī few days ago, one of my coworkers sent around a video from the show, Dear White People, to our staff.
I am astonished on a daily basis by the attacks on communities of color, like the recent shooting of high school student Antwon Rose. Our nation has endured countless acts of police brutality and racial profiling. On a more personal level, we have begun to fail one another, as violent discrimination and exclusion continue to reign. How do these political decisions enhance the life, liberty, or happiness of the people they impact? They don’t. We see this in the recent decision by the Supreme Court to uphold the Trump administration’s travel ban, Congress’s failure to pass a Dream Act to protect DACA recipients, and state and federal attempts to impose work requirements on human needs programs that help our nation’s most vulnerable families and individuals. Martin Luther King Jr.’s time and it is still evident today for people of color and all on the economic margins seeking to live freely in the United States. The default on the promise of “inalienable rights” was evident during Rev. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned.” talked about what was meant by this term: “This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Take a snapshot of the United States at this exact moment, and you will realize that we have do not have good governance, and that many in our country still lack the rights which the Declaration of Independence deems “inalienable.” In his “I Have a Dream” speech, Rev. Thus, we see the intricate and fragile relationship that exists between the government and the governed. The document written by our founding fathers clearly declares our commitment to “unalienable Rights” defined as “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It even goes so far as to say that when a government fails to protect these rights, it is the duty of the people to alter or abolish it, and that a leader whose actions resemble a tyrant cannot be trusted to rule and uphold the freedom of the people. Yes, the day has become commercialized, but the words of the Declaration of Independence remain as pertinent in our current political climate as they were when they were first written. We dress in red, white, and blue, enjoy cookouts with neighbors in our backyards, and watch from picnic blankets as fireworks erupt across the sky. Since then, each July 4th we celebrate our nation’s freedom from an overbearing colonial rule and our fervent patriotism. July 4, 1776: the day the Declaration of Independence was adopted.