By Dr. John E. Warren
It was like “A Tale of Two Cities” – the best of times and the worst of times.
It was the best of times for the hundreds of immigrants that were sworn in as U.S. naturalized citizens across this great land. Their swearing in was a manifestation of the provisions of the 14th Amendment creating citizenship status for persons not born in this country; a provision of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution just as important as citizenship by birth. This is the provision that President Trump tried to get the U.S. Supreme Court to nullify; the birthright citizenship case which the Court rejected.
Many often recite the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence which states, among other things: “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, That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed … .”
But there are many among us that are being denied those very rights today as evidenced by armed troops on the streets of our cities and federal agents killing and imprisoning immigrants, citizens and anyone who appears to be out of step with this administration.
And so, amid the recent Independence Day celebrations, parades and millions of dollars worth of fireworks many of us questioned in the immortal words of Frederick Douglass, raised as a rhetorical question during a speech at a 76th anniversary celebration of America’s independence in 1852: “What, to the American slave (Black people), is your 4th of July?
Today, 174 years later, the question is still all too real.
For those of us concerned about the police state and kingship that Donald Trump would establish, let us take heart in the fact that today we have tools that Douglass did not have. In addition to the Constitution with its 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, the only thing we lack to make change is the will to get involved and do so.
Let’s start right where we live. Let’s start with the issue of making sure that each of us can vote, register and prepare to do so. Let’s take another look at how we are spending the few dollars we have. Let’s take another look at who we can help as a part of our collective and prepare to use our numbers like never before in all that we do. Let’s create our own fireworks that will last all year long with our involvement and collective agreement to help ourselves before we expect others to do so, and in all this, let’s make a lasting reality out of the change that Frederick Douglass envisioned.
This article was originally published by the San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Newspaper .
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The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the AFRO.
