To make meaningful changes in this country we must all agree on a set of rules to be sure all citizens are provided the same civil rights on basic matters. For the benefit of gender and all races of people, we must adhere to these basic rules to improve our way of life together. To make a better place for us all.
We must introduce fairness for all.
We must insure local peacefulness for each other.
We must provide common protection for each other.
We must encourage the general safety for us now and for our children and generations to come.
We must be sure that each individual no matter gender or the color of skin is free to believe what they want, and that the government can never stop that.
We must all agree that each person is free to say what they want if what they say doesn’t stop others from enjoying the benefits of the items above. And, we should never stop the news media from reporting the truth.
Finally, if we cannot all agree on something, we should be able to gather and request that those in charge hear our complaints so they can change things.
On many occasions, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would say, the black freedom struggle was no more than a plea to be given what Blacks and all Americans had been “promised”. The “promise” he was referring to was fundamental to his cause. That “promise” was the Constitution of the United States, the rules by which our country is governed. More specifically, he was referring to an Amendment to the Constitution passed in the aftermath of the American Civil War (1861-1865).
The 14th Amendment was passed by the Congress of the United States in 1866 and ratified in 1868. Without “our” collective willingness to get better as a nation and to pass the 14th Amendment, the path of the Civil Rights movement would have been dramatically different, and Dr. King knew that. The original Constitution did not define citizenship and gave no guarantees of equality. The 14th Amendment changed all that and enabled any group of Americans to turn to the Federal government if they faced discrimination and gave ALL the legal tools to demand a remedy.
So, back to basic rules to improve our way of life that are listed above. That list was simply a paraphrasing of what already exists in our country. We should all feel very blessed that these rules are already in place in the United States of America. That “promise” that Dr. King refers to is that set of laws (The Constitution of the United States), that aligns so tightly with the principle that, “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.”
Preamble – The Constitution of the United States
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Article [I] – (The First Amendment)
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
At the Holt Street Baptist Church in Montgomery on December 5, 1955, Dr. King spoke to nearly 5,000 people. He said, “And certainly, certainly, this is the glory of America, with all of its faults. This is the glory of our democracy. If we were incarcerated behind the iron curtains of a Communistic nation we couldn’t do this. If we were dropped in the dungeon of a totalitarian regime we couldn’t do this. But the great glory of American democracy is the right to protest for right…. If we are wrong, the Supreme Court of this nation is wrong. If we are wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong. If we are wrong, God Almighty is wrong. If we are wrong, justice is a lie. Love has no meaning.”
Today, it is perfectly clear that we, as a free nation must strive to become better. Our development as a nation is not an event, it is a process and we have unfinished work before us. The rules of OUR nation matter and we are blessed to have the defining elements that afford us the “promise” and foundation of the freedom we enjoy.