America was structured to enable change. And not just any change; improvement. That’s what we’ve seen throughout history. Except for a single instance in our history, prohibition, the Constitution has been used to preserve and enable rights. Only the Eighteenth Amendment ever limited rights, and that was a ban on, “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.” Every other amendment ensured, added, or protected rights.
From the beginning of the United States of America, the Constitution has also continued to increase the diversity of our great nation. The Bill of Rights ensured the first individual rights, and other amendments have expanded those rights. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in 1865. The Fifteenth Amendment ensured voting rights for all races and former slaves. The Nineteenth Amendment ensured voting right for all sexes. The Twenty-fourth Amendment protected voting rights by banning poll taxes. The Twenty-sixth Amendment extended voting rights to all persons, “who are eighteen years of age or older.”
Let’s recap how the diversity of America has expanded throughout our history.
1865 – Slavery Abolished
1870 – Voting rights for all males
1919 – Voting rights for women
1962 – Poll taxes abolished
1971 – Voting age expanded to include all persons eighteen years and older
What a great track record of increasing diversity!
Interestingly enough, the abolition of slavery and voting rights for all males were enacted and ratified by an all male, all white Congress. The first black senator and black representative were Hiram Revels and Joseph Rainey respectively; both republicans. Conversely, Jeannette Rankin, also a republican, was the first woman representative and was the only woman in office when women’s suffrage was ratified. Still, similarly, a nearly all male Congress expanded voting rights to women. And, of course, the voting age was established at eighteen years or older by people over twenty-five years of age. The point is, our culture that has been called “systemically racist” is the same culture that has worked for decades to increase the diversity of America.
Our system of government has been established to allow exactly those types of improvements. So how do those improvements take place. Through the hard work of people who are part of the system, the system can be changed. The system is protected from external changes and it should be. The citizens elect representatives, senators, and a president, all who are also citizens. These citizens then decide to improve the system through a system of checks and balances that distribute the power to diverse groups in two of the three branches of government.
The key to making changes is joining the system and then working to make it better. It seems obvious why Black Americans would not want to join the Democratic Party. Members of the Democratic Party fought for slavery, formed the KKK, and drove a segregationist agenda all the way into the 1960s. That’s why Hiram Revels and Joseph Rainey ran and were elected as members of the party built to abolish slavery; the Republican Party. They joined the system and worked to improve the system. Jeanette Rankin also joined the system and was a proponent for women’s suffrage. She also became part of the system and then worked to improve the system.
Today, we’re faced with a tremendous decision. Will we preserve the system of checks and balances that has made our system more and more diverse throughout the history of America? Or will we allow a change without going through the system of checks and balances that has made our country great?
The Democratic Party has made it abundantly clear that if they could only control the House, the Senate, and the Executive Office, they could make the changes necessary. In the past 60 years, Kennedy, Johnson, and Carter all enjoyed a Democratic Congress while they were in office and yet we still need change. Clinton and Obama also had time with a Democratic House of Representatives, but the People quickly decided to change that representation. Most recently, the House is Democratic, the Senate Republican, and the President Republican.
We don’t need to destroy America to improve America. History demonstrates that America is more diverse than ever in its history. Should America be better? We can always get better, but we cannot allow lawlessness to drive us forward. History has demonstrated that we improve through change and it is not the people who want the change who make the changes, but the people being accused of needing to change. An all White Congress passed abolition, a nearly all male Congress passed women’s suffrage. We cannot deny our history that great people fought for freedom. We cannot deny our history that slavery was terrible. We cannot deny our history that women were not included in the American process until the 20th century. We cannot deny our history that Democrats fought for segregation up into the 1960s. We also cannot deny that our great Constitution has become more inclusive and made a more diverse society since its inception.
Rather than dragging our past with us, we should use our past to improve. We should celebrate our successes and address the real problems facing America. The Civil Rights Movement in this great country has fallen short, not through “systemic racism;” with failure to drive the improvements that will create equality of opportunity. Gallup data shows that the acceptance of interracial marriage has gone from 4% in 1958 to over 87% today. We also must not forget that as recently as 1967, the Virginia Racial Integrity Act of 1924 was still in place. It took the Supreme Court in 1967 to strike down that act and yet the full act still wasn’t repealed until 1979. We must also remember that Virginia’s general assembly was heavily Democratic from the late 19th century all the way into 1990s. Our society has grown, has become more diverse, and has become more inclusive, but still have work to do. While our system has become more inclusive and people have become more inclusive, there must be an underlying problem we need to address.
Today, the highest Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) scores are achieved by Asians. The lowest scores are achieved by Blacks and Native Americans. This is a specific problem that must be addressed. As the scores of some ethnicities have increased over time, the scores of Blacks and Native Americans have flattened. The ability to attain higher education which leads to employment, and income is directly correlated to elementary education.
The issues must be researched and understood. Moving speeches from the past and protests today do not address the causes behind inequality in America. While all people are created equal, we must work to achieve a society where everyone has the opportunity to develop together. We must understand why some ethnicities do not achieve the same level of education as others. We cannot achieve that understanding by flinging epithets like seeds planting the conflict.
We have work that must be done to have the open, the honest discussion necessary that will drive improvement. We cannot hide behind the same rhetoric that has caused consternation throughout the later half of the 20th century to today. Empty accusations, reverse racist epithets, and protests without discussion will not make the necessary changes. More government transfer payments and special programs haven’t worked in the past. We must eliminate the feeling that counter-cultures are the answer and move forward as One America where everyone is afforded the opportunity to achieve.