Striving for future equality
E quality is a right given to all the citizens of the United States of America, according to the Declaration of Independence, one of the most influential documents in our country’s history. The quote “all men are created equal” is the belief that everyone should have the same fundamental rights, no matter the circumstance. Although equality is a doctrine dating back to the founding of our country, it is not honored, even to this day. Many minority groups do not receive complete equality, both economically and socially.
This idea of the American dream that every individual, regardless of their race, gender, age, or background, can succeed with education and hard work is a false reality. Trying to obtain the American dream for some minorities is a real nightmare with their eyes open in the daylight. Those beliefs have perpetuated the reality of people who have never experienced being treated unequally. Which has led them to not see the world for what it is. People who think and speak that all is “fair” are people whose social spaces tend to not be demographically or economically diverse,. And tend to live and work with people who look like them, live in houses that are similar to them, go to schools with similar individuals who look like them.
What does this mean? What that does is create this divide of understanding between people. The lack of diversity within their network will predict greater truth in their beliefs about the social, and economical environment. This provides them with an excessive optimism and belief that society is fair. Which provides them with the opportunity to avoid the unfairness facets that minorities are faced and challenged with in the social and economic environments in America. Some non-minorities share the view that society is fair and overestimate the equalities related to low-income people and socially disadvantaged people across the nation.
Having conversations with people who are from a different race, or background will provide you with the opportunity to gather information about how their economic circumstances might differ from your own. Equality is a daily fight our country will always strive towards. How can you solve a problem if you can’t see it? This leads to the question of where did the idea that “all men are created equal” come from, and what did those words mean when Thomas Jefferson wrote them in the Declaration of Independence? What has equality meant in America over time and what does it mean today? This written statement will always be argued in the decades after the Declaration of Independence, some Americans began understanding the Declaration of Independence’s affirmation that “all men are created equal” in a different way than the founders intended.
How did the founding fathers view equality? When Jefferson wrote “all men are created equal” in the preamble to the Declaration, was he talking about individual equality? Did he want this statement to mean that through individual equality everyone and every member of a disadvantaged population could claim equality for himself or herself. Each generation’s perception of who that statement covers has expanded. It is that promise of equality that has always defined our constitutional creed.
But the promise did not reflect the reality of the founding fathers actions. Because if the founding fathers, including Thomas Jefferson, thought slavery was morally wrong, how did they justify owning slaves themselves, and how was this equal treatment of “all men are created equal?” As a nation everyone must continue to strive toward equality in this day in age. With each successful fight the nation has progressed. These fights have given all citizens the right to vote, free speech, right to bear arms, the right to a fair trial, among numerous other freedoms. Rights to many basic freedoms citizens of other countries simply do not have.
Yet, the United States is not perfect. Social equality still has not arrived for many African Americans and Latinos, with arrest and conviction rates being much higher than other races. These minorities suffer more social injustices and prejudices. Economic equality has not been realized either, with a wage gap that still persists. All of this can be changed. By standing together as a nation for equality and striving for everyone to be equal. There’s a lot of work that still needs doing if our economic and social reality is going to match up with to narratives of opportunity.
Sherry Holliman is a concerned citizen of Crittenden County and a former Marion City Councilwoman with some thoughts on a variety of topics she would like to share with her community.
Sherry Holliman
Community Commentary
