Kreston: All Are Created Equal

All Are Created Equal

Declaration of Independence/Revolutionary War – An Idea

In 1776, a group of 57 rebels made the following declaration:

“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.”[1]

That was the first time that this bold idea was written down. All are created equal. That group, along with the people they represented, then began fighting a war to defend that idea.

The Constitution – A Compromise

Thirteen years later, after many struggles and numerous battles, six of these original 57 men, along with 33 other delegates, met to solidify their union. In doing so, they recognized that this notion that all are created equal was not easily accomplished. Therefore, the Constitution that they formed was a compromise.

· The rights of the people were not codified.

· Numerous groups of people were denied the right to vote.

· Several groups were not included, or were only fractionally included, for representation.

· In several instances, governing bodies were elected by and represented the states, not the people.

Recognizing that their work was unfinished, these founders created an amendment process to allow their constitution to change and to grow as our nation continued to grow and to progress.

The Constitution was established to create “a more perfect union,” but not a perfect one. Designed to “secure the blessings of liberty,” not only for the founders, but for their posterity, who they hoped would advance this idea.[2]

Civil War/Gettysburg Address – Rededication and Resolution

In the years following the
establishment of the constitution, some progress was made, most importantly the ratification of the Bill of Rights, but the most egregious inequities remained.

In 1861, one of these issues tore the country in half. Five years of war, and over 700,000 dead, led the President to question: Can a “nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal…long endure?”

He then went on to state that it is for the living “to be dedicated… to the unfinished work which they who fought… have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining… that we… highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”[3]

Following the Civil War, the 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th amendments were added to the Constitution and ratified by the states, legally ending the practice of slavery and declaring that citizens could not be denied the right to vote on account of their race.

Fifty-five years later the 19^th Amendment recognized the right to vote for all citizens regardless of sex, and forty years after that the 23^rd Amendment allowed residents of Washington DC to be represented in presidential elections.

Yet the work remained unfinished.

Martin Luther King Jr./Civil Rights Movement – A Dream

On August 28, 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stepped to the podium in front of the Lincoln Memorial and addressed the challenge that remained.

He stated that:

When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. 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." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

Dr. King went on,

I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood...

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day… little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; ‘and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.’[4]

Once again, progress was made. The 24^th Amendment ended poll taxes, the Civil Rights Act expanded freedom, and Brown v. The Board halted the practice segregation, but we are still not all equal.

Today

Still an idea. Still an unfinished work. Still an unkept promise. Still a dream.

We still have work to do!

In recognizing that there is more to do, we do not detract from those who have gone before. Those who have so courageously toiled and labored, bled and died in advancing the cause thus far.

We honor the Founding Fathers of our nation who first expressed the idea that all are created equal. We honor those who suffered through the horrors of slavery and those who fought and died, both black and white, to bring an end to that horrible institution. We honor the women who toiled to secure the right to vote and those who have exercised that right and continue to do so. We honor those who marched with Dr. King and sat with Rosa Parks; and revere those who again fought and died to advance Civil Rights. And we honor all those who have served in our military, in Congress, in state houses, legislatures, cities, counties, and school boards, and anywhere throughout our nation to extend and expand the rights of all people. And we honor those who continue to fight and work, and yes, to bleed and die today.

Again, as in Dr. King’s day, some ask, “When will you be satisfied?”

We will not be satisfied so long as anyone is “the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.”

We will not be satisfied so long as “Basic mobility [for anyone] is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one,” or from a $#!+ hole country to a cage in an ICE detention center.

We will not be satisfied while there remain people among us who cannot vote. The 16-year-old who pays taxes on his income and can be tried for crimes as an adult but has no voice. The people of Washington DC, of Puerto Rico, Guam and other US Territories who can be drafted to fight our wars but have no representation in Congress. The ex-cons who have made a mistake, but have served their time and paid their debt to society, but still cannot vote and cannot find a job and so they are left with little choice but to return to a life of crime.

We will not be satisfied so long as there are still people in this country who are counted as a fraction of others. While a voter in Wyoming has 68 times the representation in the Senate as a voter in California, or a citizen of Vermont’s vote for president is worth 3.5 times that of a citizen of Florida. We cannot be satisfied.

We will not be satisfied so long as crooked lines are drawn and arbitrary laws are passed to keep power in the hands of a few at the expense of the many.

We will not be satisfied so long as any woman gets paid 20% less than a man for doing the same work.

We will not be satisfied while there are those among us, in the midst of our plenty, who do not have food to eat, or a safe place to live, or adequate healthcare.

We will not be satisfied until there is no discussion of Women’s rights, or LGBTQ rights, or any minority rights, but only the full recognition of Human Rights.

We will not be satisfied until there is not only religious freedom, but also tolerance for all religions to “worship how, where, or what they may.”

We will not be satisfied while the poor are represented by public defenders who, while often dedicated, lack the resources of high-priced defense attorneys, so “the righteous [are condemned while] the guilty and the wicked go unpunished because of their money.”

We will not be satisfied so long as the opportunities to gain a sufficient education are not open to all.

So long as there are those who are given a head start because of their race, or their money, or their gender, or family situation, or their access to the internet or to the basic necessities of life.

No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."[5]

Until that time, we must continue to strive. We must continue to march. We must continue to fight. We must continue to vote. We must do all that lies in our power to reach out to each other in fellowship and assist those who are still treated as less than equal.

We must not give up, even though we fail. For this ideal, this dream, this work, will remain unfinished by our generation as it has been since our nation’s founding. Nevertheless, we remain dedicated to the proposition that all are created equal.