Turmoil swirls around cries to defund the police. The President of the United States defends the treasonous heritage of the confederate south. Covid-19 has claimed a disproportionate number of Americans of color. Confederate monuments are finally finding the scrap heap as Mississippi votes to remove the Confederate emblem of racial bigotry from its flag. But most importantly, our youth have taken to the streets day after day to protest racial injustice and police brutality. Against this chaotic backdrop, the country celebrates its 244th birthday and the signing of The Declaration of Independence. Maybe the time is right to focus on the passage in the Declaration that provides the remedy for what ails America and is at the heart of the Black Lives Matter and the Defund the Police movements – \”institute a new government\”.
The declaration outlines the following recourse when the people are no longer served by the institutions that govern them.
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, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness
– Declaration of Independence
America is broken. The presidency is being run by a narcissistic, egotistical, reality show despot. Congress has abdicated its duty of oversight. The Justice Department has exposed bare the reality that people of color have always known; power and influence can overturn the rule of law and. The Supreme Court edges ever closer to a political toy controlled by whichever party wins the majority of those nine precious life-long justices. Watching the machinations of a broken system is like watching a firehose flailing wildly out of control. That control will only be restored when the Declaration lives up to its creed and not only states that \”all men are created equal\” but ensures that all men are respected, judged, and compensated equally.
In fact, the protestors of today are making their own declarations as the colonist did over 240 years ago. They declare:
- The right not to be killed and brutalized by the police
- The right to live free of oppression and systemic racism
- The right not to settle for partial wages for the same work rendered
- The right to capital to finance businesses and buy homes under the same guidelines as others
- The right to the same quality and standards of education that is required to thrive
- The right not to be treated like a second class citizen in a country on which its blood, sweat, and endless tears is built
- The right not to have our young sons and daughters, who have served honorable on the battlefields around the world, die face down on the streets they live in their own blood
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.
– Declaration of Independence
No one has petitioned more than African Americans. We were slaves and we petitioned for freedom. During reconstruction, JimCrow, and police brutality – we petitioned. Fighting for the right to vote – we petitioned. Not to be relegated to the back of the bus – we petitioned. For equal access to education – we petitioned. Not to have our babies bombed in churches or our church brothers gunned down in houses of worship – we petitioned. Not to have to drink lead-contaminated water – we petitioned.
This is indeed the moment, the hour, the reckoning where America has the chance to form a government that is indeed more inclusive. A society that admits its sin and builds a foundation, not on lies and deception, the harsh truths of its past. So, as America struggles to right the wrongs of its past and unshackles itself from the burdens of its original sin why not hold its feet to the fire to what\’s written in the very Declaration it celebrates today:
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, …
– Declaration of Independence