Below is an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence.
...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, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government...
Although written on behalf of white colonial men and not society as a whole, this document has significant meaning today. The Declaration of Independence establishes what the United States is about. It is about freedom. But throughout U.S. history, freedom has been withheld more then it has been given. And that is our nations greatest fault.
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| https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/declara/images/geow.jpg |
For whom does freedom ring?
For the merciless Indian savages*? We killed you
For the ones chained in the fields? We branded you like cattle
For the "model minority**"? We never took you seriously
For the one's at the back of the bus? We are still holding you back
For the one's we hired to tend our gardens? We say you stole our jobs
For the women in the work force? We gave you 79 cents on the dollar
For the refugees from war torn lands? We say you're terrorists
For the ones who came out of the closet? We consider you a disease
For the black man the police pulled over? We claim you're guilty by suspicion (so we shot you)
If freedom and equality is of value, then justice is a paramount requirement
If we see the injustice but stay silent, then how can freedom ring?
*Quote from the Declaration of Independence
**Many Asian American Cultures are considered the model minority
