Tomorrow is the annual Fourth of July celebration typically marked by fireworks, parades and outdoor barbecues and other joyous demonstrations as the United States remembers that day in 1776 when we declared our independence from Great Britain.
Just as with many of our special holidays it is too easy to get caught up in the symbols and rituals and forget the real significance of the day.
The Declaration of Independence, probably the most important document guiding US values and beliefs 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.
We all know that the signers literally meant “white men” and did not mean “all men” as those of African descent were not included in the definition.
We have spent the last 237 years attempting to get to a place where “all” really means “all”. We fought the Civil War to end slavery; engaged in contentious debate over women’s right to vote, own property, etc; took issues of segregated schools to the Supreme Court; experienced more violence during the Civil Rights Movement of the 60’s in an attempt to end discriminatory practices; and today we are still fighting for equal pay for women, protection against discrimination for the LGBT, Veteran and disabled communities, among a myriad of other issues that test how well we live up to the preamble of the Declaration of Independence.
What I am most proud of as an American is that we don’t give up. Jessie Jackson is credited with saying, “Keep Hope Alive”…President Obama propelled us with “Yes We Can” and Bill Clinton said, “America just works better when more people have a chance to live their dreams.” John F. Kennedy said, “Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.” Hillary Clinton recently told the world that “gay rights are human rights”.
I am proud that we never take our freedom for granted. I am proud that we keep the full court press on for those who are still not treated equally, who have less than “free” experiences in this country.
On this Independence Day 2013 let us vow to passionately and doggedly continue the struggle to actualize the dream. Let us…
- Fight against racial/ethnic profiling that has led to the incarceration and deaths of many innocent people .
- Allow women the freedom to make their own reproductive health care choices.
- Pass the Federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act to end employment discrimination against the LGBT community. (Only 16 states and the District of Columbia have laws that ban employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.)
- Equalize public education where students of color have the same quality of education as white students.
- Enact fair and equitable immigration policies.
- Equalize the criminal justice system. (We now have hugely disproportionate incarceration rates for people of color.)
The saying goes: “When you know better you will do better.” We know better than our forefathers what equality really looks like, so let’s do better! Our very survival as a nation depends on it.
