And on July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, declaring: “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.”
Yes, we need to have the Congress pass HR 17----removes the deadline to ratify the ERA. If Congress removes the ratification deadline, the Amendment will be added to the Constitution because it now has all the State ratification votes for it that are needed.
If there is one woman whom women should owe allegiance to, then Elizabeth Cady Stanton should be the one, and perhaps as their 'God'
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the most influential women and a social activist who who rose to fight against the subjugation and subordination of women. Organised the Seneca Falls Convention, the firebrand crusader of women's rights crested a document dubbed "The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions" with which the 68 women and 32 women who were in attendance signed it. However, 200 people did not sign it.
As controversial as she was, one of the contents of the document stated that "The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her."
In 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft published A Vindication of the Rights of Women, highly regarded by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. In it, she expressed her indignant regard of her society's subjugation of women and her quest for equality: "...laws respecting woman,...make an absurd unit of a man and his wife. ...only considering him as responsible, she is reduced to a mere cypher. ... I really think that women ought to have representatives, instead of being arbitrarily governed without having any direct share allowed them in the deliberations of government." The courage of these women is even more admirable for the utter lack of legal recourse available to them — and the increased marital, societal and financial vulnerability they exposed themselves to.
Though she was in the 19th century, her ideas were modern and foresaw enormous legislative changes that the world at large, especially here in Africa, have adopted. In Africa, some countries have developed the 2/3 gender rule to fill elective positions that are highly regarded as patriarchal.
Thank you, Edwin. I am ‘way behind with African history except for a bit of early Egypt. (And, of course, “The African Queen.”) I will try to read and learn from you.
Despite her statements seeming controversial, her resolve to demand respect for women and inclusion in legislative decision-making was a bold move that I personally applaud.
I became a "Women's Libber" when I was six years old. We wee living in Texas in 1946, a community property state that gave all and total control over community property to the husband. My mom complained to me about how unfair this was. I believed her. I think that I was her sounding board. While women have made great gains and great contributions, there's still a whole lot of work to be done. MAGA is little more than the South having risen again. I don't know if there will ever be a day when misogyny and racism no longer exist.
I don't think most people including women have any idea of how long they were basically chattel with no legal rights. We find this in Pride and Prejudice....five daughters who couldn't inherit and of Downton Abbey, once again all daughters. One of the Vita Sackville West's great laments was that she couldn't inherit her ancestral pile, Knole, because she was a woman. History is replete with women barely existing except for the ties to some male and being a burden because they needed a dowry. My own mother-in-law was the first person to have a Meier and Frank (now Macy's) credit card in her own name. And as woman, I have put up with 80 years of mansplaining and having my opinion ignored or being talked over. Now we have a Supreme Court where five men and the handmaiden are determined to set us back (and not only women) to a white patriarchal theocratic society.
Yes, definitely, there are those among us who want to stop the progress that females and minorities are making in this country. This is why I often mention Timothy Egan's book, "A Fever in the Heartland," about the rise of the KKK in the 1920's. MAGA is really KKK. Regarding misogyny, google "The Anger Games, Who voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 Election, and Why?" It's a study by two Univ. of Kansas professors and one of the reasons Trump got their votes is his (and their) misogyny.
I have read A Fever in the Heartland and have recommended it often. I am Hoosier born and raised and I was outraged and disgusted. I only knew that Indiana had the highest number of KKK members in the 1920s. My ex-classmate in Elkhart who is highly resistant to knowledge and education tried to tell me that Italians were welcome in Elkhart. Well, neither she nor I were around in the 1920s, and I gave her the information about the great fall in Italian immigration after the 1924 immigration act. I heard a lot of prejudice of all kinds from my family, but I hope none of them were KKK members. I tend to think not, but it wouldn't surprise me if they knew people who were. As a woman, I am well aware of misogyny. For me it is made worse because I am well-educated, well-read, and reasonably intelligent. I have a neighbor who recently said he regards himself as a feminist (he was saying he should have listened to his wife) and he is the mansplainer I most encounter in person. He understands intellectually (as did my father), but not emotionally. Plenty of them online as well.
I agree about MAGA being KKK and I also call MAGA Nazis because they are subscribing in reality to the extermination of all people who are not White Christians, with males at the helm and women filling the role of helpmates and breeders.
Thanks for the Timothy Egan recommendation! I've learned so much history from him, I'll read this one, even though this topic is increasingly depressing to me. Misogyny and white supremacism are rampant and basically immoral and unethical, and so deeply ingrained that they are possibly not visible to those who practice them.
I share your experiences & age of recent hx. being asked during a job interview of what kind of birth control do I use. Credit card denial. Along with the mansplaining & opinions ignored or considered less than those of a male
Wow....I can't imagine being asked about birth control in a job interview. The nearest I came to that sort of thing is when I was coaching girls basketball and there was a really bad disparity between preparing the court for the boys and nothing for the girls. In fact, I had to throw out boys shooting baskets. In this instance, I was complaining to our AD who had me in a bear hug and told me to put in a tampon. I did mention that he had said that shortly afterwards and he acted like did I actually say that. Well, yes, a.hat, you did. I also explained that women could become angry anytime over inequality and that it had nothing to do with periods. He was awful to his first wife and one of his daughters committed suicide. He has ended up with a very nice woman who is better than he deserves. My husband has a friend who i do like and he is a wonderful punster. But he hangs on my husband's every word and then looks at his phone while I am talking. Pffft. I had to tell another friend of ours when we were talking about writing letters that I had taught expository writing because he thought only my husband can write. The truth is that I can write, but it does nothing for me and I would rather spend my precious time (I am 80) reading. I also had a ex-student, female, complaining about the original women's march. She played basketball for me. I explained to her, without mentioning details, that she had no idea what I had to put up with to coach girls. And that she had no idea about the history of the treatment of women.
When I was divorced in early 70s - I had NO credit - of all things, had to ask my ex husband to co-sign a loan so I could buy a tractor to mow the lawn. I have to say - after that I did not look back!!! Man-splaining? Oh yes - far too much.
I remember here in Illinois when my aunt divorced her husband and even though she had been working throughout their marriage too, and had contributed to their credit, she lost her credit totally by being divorced. Luckily she was keeping the house. Since he lived in another state he could not live in it anyway. I was just shocked as a child to realize that she was a second class citizen. Her husband, who was from Panama, was very sexist anyway. I remember her being upstairs giving my little cousin a bath and he called for her to come downstairs and fix him a drink. I remember thinking how he was willing to let the baby drown just to have her get him a drink when he was right next to the kitchen and could have easily gotten it himself. I know there are still homes like that where it is expected that the women serve the man, and it is just unfortunate that we evolved these roles, just as we evolved with so much racism.
Wow. It is difficult to imagine how her ex could have had that frame of mind. To state the obvious, the human brain is not inherently rational in thought. It's a good thing that animals in the wild don't have human brains because they'd never survive. We have a great capacity for self deception.
These stories, each very personal and formative, are acquiring a weight—a historical weight and authority—as they accrue in these responses and exchanges. Much as I thought I understood, these personal stories, in their brevity and plain presentation are powerful engines for empathetic response. Perhaps a book, a collection of these stories, would help to draw support for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. Examples that stimulate empathy may draw more supporters—active, voting, supporters—than may well-reasoned argument.
"The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), first proposed in 1923, is an amendment to the United States Constitution that guarantees equality of rights under the law for all persons regardless of sex.
"As of January 27, 2020, the ERA has satisfied the requirements of Article V of the Constitution for ratification (passage by two-thirds of each house of Congress and approval by three-fourths of the states)."
"Leading constitutional scholars agree that the ERA is now part of the Constitution. Because of issues raised about its unique ratification process (explained on the Frequently Asked Questions page), the Archivist of the United States has not yet taken the final ministerial step of publishing the ERA in the Federal Register with certification of its ratification as the 28th Amendment."
The Equal Rights Amendment has met all of the requirements for ratification according to Article V of the Constitution. We need an order to publish by POTUS to the National Archivist. That’s it!
Thank you for the invitation. At 89, a bot slow and short of funds, about to start writing postcards to get out the vote in America as I hope to help save the democracy, I may have to continue to read you here only.
As grateful and in awe as I am about Cady Stanton's achievements for women—and I am— it's important also to say that she and Susan B. Anthony, and many suffragists of the time, did not include Black women in their push for women's rights, and argued that white women should have been enfranchised before Black men. There were white suffragists who did not draw those race distinctions, and Black suffragists who were fighting just as diligent and against greater odds.
So true, we rise these women as heroes for the cause. But, actually the underlining history tells the real history of the women’s movement. Unfortunately no one is perfect.
And today Black women are a potent force in this country, too many to mention, but at the forefront right now - Stacey Abrams. She is amazing. Well, I do have to mention Barbara Jordan (RIP). As a society, we keep learning how easy it is for us to underestimate each other. At least, I keep learning and learning and learning how wrong I've been even though I've been around bright, strong females my entire life. I think that confirmation bias slips into the picture at times.
You and I are definitely in sync on this. To this I would add Barbara Lee, the only Congressional member to vote against authorizing the invasion of Iraq. Still, with all due respect to the other ladies, Stacey Abrams is in a league of her own. She's brilliant beyond words.
I apologize for a misstatement above. I meant to say implicit bias, not confirmation bias. I grew up in Jim Crow Texas in the 1940's and '50's. It would be no exaggeration to say that females and minorities were treated disparangingly and this impression of unworthiness can creep into one's thinking ever so insidiously. Two really good books on the post Civil War era and how we have looked at it and been affected by it are Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s book (Stony the Road) about Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow along with James Loewen's book, "Lies My Teacher Told Me." They do inform us.
True. Despite her worthy efforts, he lost a moral ground with regard to advocating for universal human rights for all regardless of their race or gender. Elizabeth Cady Stanton once stated that having black men as voters before white women beats "logic." She further went and said that black women are worse off when they are under black men than when they were under white masters. "We educated, virtuous white women are more worthy of the vote.' Elizabeth Cady Stanton further said 'What will we and our daughters suffer if these degraded black men are allowed to have the rights that would make them even worse than our Saxon fathers?.
It seems to me those who were fighting for the rights of certain groups had their own Weaknesses and did not incorporate the larger human picture of universal human rights.
advance is "uneven" right Alexandra? She was an ardent abolitionist on the other hand. You'll find this across the board when you explore past and present attitudes and values. Morality is "jellybean"... but look, i started reading Wikipedia on her (again) and it's chock full of interesting detail. I'm putting aside for now, but it almost feels like "novelette". A full biography would make a wonderful read.
Frank, I'm doing a deep dive into California history that very much includes Cady Stanton. She was a great leader - but that makes it even more important not to overlook her failings. Other suffragists of the time split with her and Anthony and formed a second women's suffrage organization in great part because of this issue.
Yes indeed, read abt that. Today we would call this her "failings" in today's mores, but she was hardly alone in her views. Her denial of full equal voting rights for blacks also reflects a widespread belief, boltered by contemporary science, that blacks were biologically inferior to whites. It shows how technological superiority advanced and bolstered supposedly objective science thanks to imperial conquests and colonizations. All non-whites into that category too. Her husband never went along with voting rights for women, Wiki gave a nice thumbnail on their relationship. Women were widely regarded as over emotional and lacking in intellect. She faced that prejudice in a London conference where it was virtually a "men only" event, with women being relegated to a segregated watching room only. Moral change is usually a struggle.
Which is why progress is difficult to come by. Certain people on the left do not understand that and they certainly were very foolish and arrogant during the 2016 election. So if they are complaining about the direction the the Supreme Court has taken us, they bear some of the blame.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and California?! I'm curious to know what one has to do with the other. I always associate Cady Stanton with upstate NY, because she grew up in Johnstown, Fulton County, and of course spent time in Seneca Falls.
For those of you who are requesting for a thread on different historical issues that matter to you, I welcome your move and I am greatly indebted to this community. In the coming days, I will reveal hard-to-find historical relations between Africa and America. I welcome you to subscribe to my newsletter (with indeph information and more engagements) for free.
Edwin, I invite you to please stop pushing your newsletter on us. We can all see that you have one, and that your writing is worthy. It is in bad taste to use Dr. Richardson's newsletter to advertise. Thank you for your contribution, and your understanding.
How do we see each other...here may be a guide to holding each and everyone of us. It is a great start to possibly seeing Christ in everyone. There may be only one person that's truly living, The Christ.
"In Christ, we always begin with perfect God and perfect Man, the absolute reality of being. Man is the image of perfect Mind; this, is the only real man and includes true identity of each of us. The real man is: spiritual, pure, sinless, satisfied, complete, expressing undeaviating Principle and is characterized absolute integrity and adherence to stiritual law."
John DeWitt, Christian Science Board of Lectureship
"The real man is: spiritual, pure, sinless, satisfied, complete, expressing undeaviating Principle and is characterized absolute integrity and adherence to stiritual law."
“In Christ, we always begin with perfect God and perfect Man”
And therein lies the problem. You cannot break open your thinking based on a book written by men, for men, making god in their own image. The Creative Force made humanity, flaws and all. Our ability to survive our flaws and rise to the harmonious, sustainable existence we need on this unique Blue Marble, is continually being tested. Holding on to patriarchal myths will NEVER get us to harmony or sustainability.
Edwin and all, I found this statement years ago and now talk with my best friend every time I meet someone. He is there but we must chose to see. So, I ask one more time, how do we see each other? I look through that statement and see all it offers....we can give each other dignity by holding everyone up to that statement. Again the statement is this... In Christ, we always begin with perfect God and perfect Man, the absolute reality of being. Man is the image of perfect Mind; this, is the only real man and includes true identity of each of us. The real man is: spiritual, pure, sinless, satisfied, complete, expressing undeaviating Principle and is characterized absolute integrity and adherence to stiritual law
As a young girl, she detested the fact that as a married woman, she won't be entitled to personal property ownership, and she found this as personal insult. "She seethed when one of the judge's law students, Henry Bayard, upon being shown Elizabeth's new Christmas gifts, teased, "if in due time you should be my wife, those ornaments would be mine."" This revealed the extent with which patriarchy and subjugation of women as inferior had become so pervasive in the 19th century and reflected in legal and organizational structures.
I am learning so much today. What an infuriating, vivid anecdote. “She seethed ... “ I am now seeking out all I can read about Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Any suggestions for best biographies about her are appreciated.
Have you discovered Matilda Joslyn Gage yet? She's the co-author of the _History of Woman Suffrage_ (along with Stanton and Susan B. Anthony) that too many people have never heard of. There's a reason for that: she was intersectional long before her time, and that didn't go over well with most of the white single-issue suffragists. She was also highly critical of organized religion. Check out her _Woman, Church & State_ when you have a chance.
Check out the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation (https://matildajoslyngage.org/) when you have a chance. Lots of resources there! Little-known fact: she was L. Frank "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" Baum's mother-in-law.
Edwin Seneca Falls (1848) was a hallmark occasion, with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frederick Douglass, and some other men that underscores the rights of women for equality.
I have read that the Suffragettes in Seneca Falls were influenced by the relative high position that women held in the Haudenausaunee Nation, known as the Iroquois by non Natives. While the mainstream women's suffrage movement was based on White Supremacy, there were other women involved in the suffrage movement.
While the mainstream women's suffrage movement did not include Black women, Black women started their own organizations, and Frederick Douglas, a former slave and his family supported the women's suffrage movement too.
So, keeping that in mind I could not say that about Elizabeth Cady Stanton, because that is not the history that I see.
What really angers me is that women are being encouraged in many groups to have second class status. I am referring to the roles conservative branches of religions play in keeping women subservient. Evangelical White Christians are basically trying to hold onto a lifestyle for women that was supposed to have disappeared over 100 years ago, where women are in essence having no say over their lives as they did back in the days before suffrage. Women lost their property to their husbands at marriage. I can see why women of means would not want to marry. It was a losing proposition other than for having children because children born under marriage are sanctioned as legitimate, and otherwise they are not.
I have a list of all women who attended the convention, but I will only write a few. Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Martha C. Wright, Jane Hunt, and Mary McClintock were women who organised for the Seneca Falls Convention on July 14, 1848. With a short notice of 3 days on July 18, 1848, they were pessimistic that a few people will attend, but to their surprise, 300 were in attendance. Lucratia Mott was the one who started the convention presentation and followed by Elizabeth Cady Stanton who read the Declaration of Sentiments. Their Declaration of Sentiments stated that "all men and women are created equal" and not "all men are created equal."
What can we say of these men who attended the First Women Rights Convention at the Seneca Falls? Richard P. Hunt, Samuel D. Till man, Justin Williams, Elisha Foote, Frederick Douglas, Henry Seymour, David Spalding, William Parker, Elisha Doty, John Williams, William Dell, James Mott, William Burroughs, Sharon Philips, Jacob Matthews,...the list is endless. I can say they were ahead of their time, when society degraded when constitutionally.
I sincerely hope to see the ERA Amendment ratified in my lifetime….been wanting far too long for it to be so. My grandmother, born in So CA in 1898 didn’t get the right to vote until she was in her early 20’s—she was always forward-thinking, and tho’ we never really talked politics, her day-to-day life & actions spoke of inclusion and equal rights/justice. She passed in 1979 nearly reaching her 100th year. I miss her still.
I think we will see it. All it takes at this time is a Democratic majority in the House, 52 democrats in the Senate (with 50 willing to suspend the filibuster, since Manchin and Sinema refuse) - and it happens.
The Dems need to run with that promise in 2024. It is so close. I think it will happen.
And then all the restrictions that the GOP are imposing on women’s autonomy of our bodies is completely obliterated.
We will be dancing in the streets-what a party that will be! 💃🏻🕺🏻🥳
The ERA would be terrific. Restoring women’s bodily autonomy nationally will also require repair to voting rights and repair of the courts. At the very least, balancing the Extreme Court and adding an enforceable ethics code. Preferably restricting that court to its constitutionally assigned cases of original jurisdiction, and transferring all other cases to a new Federal Review Court with all the guardrails : term limits, strict enforceable ethics requirements and procedural requirements including proper use of any shadow docket, etc,etc.
What an excellent vision: “... restricting that court to its constitutionally assigned cases of original jurisdiction, and transferring all other cases to a new Federal Review Court with all the guardrails ...” How wonderfully sane.
Joan, I’m afraid we’ll not see this in our lifetime, unless, we manage to give the Democrats a ‘supermajority’ in both the House and Senate, plus a forward thinking President.
Even so, if we add this idea to the conversation, it will make the proposed Judiciary Act of 2023 changes look moderate by comparison, which will help it pass within our expected lifetimes. Plus, my expected lifetime may not be that much longer, but I care about the world in which my daughter and her children will live.
Oops, transposed numbers….she left for whatever comes next in 1997, not 1979….that much earlier would have robbed us all of some excellent adventures & experiences.
Including the indigenous people who were pushed out of their ancestral lands and continue to be oppressed. It's no surprise that this former colonial enterprise continues to oppress all those who were excluded on the basis of gender, religious beliefs as well as non-belief, skin color, and all the other reasons amendments to the constitutions are still needed desperately.
Writing in the NY Times on Sunday(7/2), Jill Lapore, in "How to Stave Off Constitutional Extinction", argues that our Constitution will cease to be the living document it is if we can no longer amend what Thomas Paine (in Common Sense) said we have " every opportunity . . . to form the noblest purest constitution on the face of the earth." She concludes "Americans won't be able to agree anytime soon on how to amend the U.S. Constitution . . . Amending is what makes the Constitution everyone's." But it's now in the hands of a perverse, illogical court of
"Originalists" who misread it for their own selfish ends. Amend it, America, or watch the dream perish.
There was real risk in what the signers did in Philadelphia 247 years ago today. And they knew it: "Let us hang together, or we'll all hang separately." ----B. Franklin, Printer. In thanks for our nation, for all who died for it, for all who lived for it, for all who fought and continue to fight for human equality, the climate, and justice.
The fight for equality must include ALL people, regardless of gender, race, religion, sexual identity and preference, etc. The Supreme Court, through its recent decisions, appears hellbent on restoring the country to the 18th century, despite our history since then towards a more equal society. Rather than affirm or expand rights of certain classes of people, they have extinguished them, and more rights are being challenged (gay marriage, contraception, etc.)
I remember in elementary school hearing those words that all men are created equal and believing them. My parents and grandparents came to America believing those words. That was crucial to their decision of where to go. I hope in our slow and sometimes painful steps to insure a more perfect union we get there and become that shining city on a hill. I hope Dr. King’s arc of justice is right. It is worth working for and hoping for and believing in.
Molly, the arc is bending. In the 1960’s, it was rare to see a white person marching for civil rights. In the George Floyd protests, a substantial percentage of the protesters were white. Yes, it’s moving toward justice, but way too slow.
Please don't underestimate 60s civil rights activism. I remember that decade very well. In Seattle there was an active CORE group, and well known people were working for equal rights. Some went to Mississippi and joined in the protests there. Black leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King in 1961, came up from the south and spoke to large audiences here.
I participated in the Seattle school boycott. Later in the decade there was violence. White groups targeted White and Black civil rights activists, and Black groups targeted Whites. Edwin Pratt moved his family here in 1961 to lead the Urban League and was assassinated at his home in 1969. He is remembered to this day, and two parks and a fine arts school are named for him.
Thank you for this piece of history, particularly about the Urban League. Marc Morial is my first acquaintance with that organization. Now I have Pratt’s background as yesterday, watching Mrs. Evers interview with Joy Ried, I was reminded of Medger Evers whose death by assassination I remember well.
Ruth, thank you for sharing this history. I was not denigrating the activism of the 1960’s. I’m just saying that, when my mom marched to desegregate the Oklahoma City schools, she was the only white person in a group of over 50. I’ve looked at the famous pictures of the marches at that time and the racial mix seems overwhelmingly one-sided.
A speech both simple and profound, Lincoln wondered if anyone cared. It speaks volumes with so very few words. It moves us through the ages and reminds us of what we could, and should, be.
I believe it's the single most compelling and effective speech in America's history. Lincoln beautifully made his point in as few words as possible. A speech for the ages.
Molly, I wish humankind could embrace this concept and integrate it in our whole being, and banish the greed and avarice that seems to act so boldly within so so so many of us. IMHO greed is killing us, our fellow species and the planet as we know it. Sigh, I have never understood it. At. All.
Yesterday vision of a cartoon: group of billionaires sitting at a table eating paper money. One says “Why isn’t there any catsup”? It’s for the greedy who refuse to recognize climate change of course. We have to change diet, housing, get back to small vegetable gardens. Americans were much more equipped to deal with scarcity during WWII than now and not just because of the Great Depression. We were closer to the land and to basic truths about being human: food, skills, and fun.
Every child should know the basics of growing enough food to survive on. And then be introduced to the idea of trading products with others. They should know where their water comes from and how precious it is.
They should know the difference between the super processed junk and the real food. Nutrition should be a primary focus.
And how is it that in the richest nation in the history of the Earth - with many $ trillions available, it is even a question as to whether an American has a good roof over her/his head? Why isn't having two full time jobs enough to raise kids and survive on?
How can it be that ANY veteran would even have to ask for shelter, water and food? Why doesn't each service member have an advocate? Who are we?
We are nuts. We have embraced malnutrition and trickle down economics for starters. I would say ONE job to support a family in case one member wants to parent and the other wants to work outside. But we must add no more than one “natural” child per family and begin thinking how to have graceful adoptions of the world’s orphans. I have seen two very successful ones, know it takes special people, but think the idea needs to be in the public sphere.
Yes, and just think, in Ron DeStupids world, all the farmland will be replaced with concrete. He doesn’t like farming, or farmers. They don’t produce money for his pockets. Food, to him, is something we can get from other countries. No matter how poisonous it is.
Now isn’t the time to ‘bury our heads in the sand’! We are not ostriches. We are human beings. We have to vote. We have to make ‘supermajorities’ in the House and Senate. We have to keep our Democratic president.
At 89 I have the same fears, but am doing all I can to bring it about. Writing first get out the vote postcards today. Planning on at least 1000 by mid-October 2024.
I’ll join you! If anyone out there would like to write post cards to Dems reminding them to vote in state and national elections, go to www.postcardstovoters.com.
Do we actually think we are equal. Have to admit I have a problem with my MAGAt friends and relatives. Easy to consider them ignorant but most are not. Just found a division that appealed to them. Guess I have too.
Humans are one SPECIES, Homo sapiens. According to lots of reputable sources easy to find online Race is a sociological human construct first used or semi-defined in the 19th century when humans first had a glimpse of the reality and implications of biological evolution via Chas. Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, etc. It has some biological meaning when used for domesticated plants and animals (such as in farming and horticulture) but no scientific accuracy or depth when applied to humans.
I often think we should be teaching and emphasizing the idea that as a SPECIES we all originated from COMMON ancestors which might affect how people consider one another but I guess that’s too technical for people who view themselves as top dogs (not meaning to call out dogs).
The Brits began colonization of India in the mid 1700's. They treated people native to India as subhuman and turned them into servants and slaves.
Maybe they did not use the word "race" but Brits clearly felt superior because they were white.
Many Indians probably did as well since, India's Hindu religion is based on a hierarchy of holiness with light skinned people at the top of the hierarchy (caste system in India).
My guess? Neanderthals did not fare well when anatomically modern humans showed up in northern Europe not because Anatomically modern humans thought they were "equal".
Perhaps each human just has evolved a desperate need to feel superior to someone????
I can say it is the (very) rare person I meet that truly grants a feeling of equality to all comers.
Thanks for your update on my modest attempt at making a historical reference. As things look now I'm sure you're correct about the long long history of humans' using those ideas for personal gain no matter the terminology. OTOH and possibly related I found it interesting that 23&Me claims to detect a smidge of Neanderthal DNA in my genome. If true it means somehow we as a species continue to carry that legacy forward.
All living beings - homo sapiens included are related. We are all cousins. Would that we would treat every being with the respect of being part of the family.
I really appreciated the animation until the end when Aung San Suu Kyi, was held up as the icon of its manifesting. Sadly, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner and popular leader of Myanmar has fallen from grace because of her defence of the military, condemned at the International Court of Justice for their shameful brutality towards her nation's Muslim minority, the Rohyinga.
This Letter has me in tears. Tears of grief that America has not yet reached the goals so eloquently set forth, tears for those who fought and those who died to realize the dream, and tears for the conditions in play today that would deny all that sacrifice and effort.
Lots of work ahead to continue the march toward justice and equality for all. We will prevail! Happy, hopeful 4th to you all!
Kathe, I felt this sadness for America too. I wish I had your faith that things would work out. But this slow coup is working purposefully and relentlessly toward the atavistic goals of the leaders, and I'm not seeing any effective countermeasures. Biden is doing his part, using his power wisely and for the people as an exemplar of the better way. But it will take more than that. Will enough people wake up, will enough woke people vote?
Wishing everyone the best on Independence Day. Never give up.
Part of the work is to break through paralyzing discouragement, in ourselves and one another. Tyranny works had to seem inevitable:
"In a world that had been dominated by a small class of rich men for so long that most people simply accepted that they should be forever tied to their status at birth, a group of upstart legislators on the edges of a continent declared that no man was born better than any other."
That small class of the ultra-rich is not giving up. Neither are we.
Many people ARE doing their part, actually. You just need to know where to look. May I suggest starting with Jessica Craven’s Substack Chop Wood/Carry Water. Her daily action items tell you exactly what to say and to whom. She takes us by the hand and shows “we the people” how to also work “purposefully and relentlessly” toward our goals. Talk about effective countermeasures!! Then, to prove that our efforts and actions are not in vain, she periodically (usually every week) offers a list of political accomplishments made all across the country that is always uplifting and often astonishing in that it demonstrates progress that most of us would not be aware of otherwise.
I, too, am in tears for the dream not fully realized! Yet in all my years on this earth, I never feared or doubted that America would not remain a democratic republic...until now! We are being bombarded on all fronts from the far-right who no longer believe in democracy and are actively working to destroy it to SCOTUS who are taking rights away! How do we fight back on all fronts? How, besides the obvious of being engaged, supporting like minded candidates, and voting, do we save this grand experiment? Some days I feel hopeful that we are making progress to reclaim the forward trejectuary I thought we were on but after a week like this one I am not so sure! How do we hold on to hope?
Thank you, Carole! Heather's post touched me so last night for some reason! I usually am a "stay the course" kind of person but lately all the chaos and disppointments seem to be a lot to absorb! it is nice to be able to express them in a safe enviroment and know there are others who are in the battle! Happy 4th!
Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. … Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerned citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
Since the 1980s, Republicans have argued that policies embraced by a majority of Americans to promote equality of opportunity actually infringe liberty by hampering businessmen's actions or taking their money through taxes. --Heather Cox Richardson
Until we get equality in education, we won't have an equal society. __Sonia Sotomayor
The test for whether or not you can hold a job should not be the arrangement of your chromosomes.
Yup Fern and in sage brush and badlands small children heard those magnificent words and assumed they meant all men women and children. When I heard some were excluded years later as we grew up, I was astounded. Not one child in six could accept that mom was not the highest authority in Prairie County, Montana. We knew!
I was about 8 when I first heard (from my teacher) that the words “man” and “men” -- as in “all men are created equal” -- meant humankind, not just male human beings. She was my teacher, and I believed her, with the assumption she meant all people agreed with that definition. Took quite a while to realize that assumption was incorrect. Ready for making all necessary edits wherever they are needed to clear up any enduring confusion.
Thank you, Red Thread, for your link above: 'Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December – the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is the most translated document in the world, available in more than 500 languages. And it would not be the shining beacon of hope it is today without Eleanor Roosevelt. This short documentary chronicles her fight to make the Universal Declaration of Human Rights a reality for people around the world', and for your appreciation of Eleanor Roosevelt and Hansa Mehta on behalf of 'all human beings'.
Thank you Susan, On Saturday, I re-watched the first 20 minutes of 'Saving Private Ryan ' When the doors of one of the landing craft were opened all the soldiers were shot dead with a high caliber machine gun at point blank range from a pillbox. The surf at the edge of Omaha Beach was all red. I am certain it was even more difficult on the real D-day.
Mu uncle landed at Omaha Beach and also was at the Battle of the Bulge; he never spoke of it. He decided against watching the movie, he said, “I’ve seen that movie before.”
Molly, your Dad's brother made the right decision as 'Private Ryan begins with a D-day Vet visiting the many graves at the Arlington-like Cemetery in France & breaks down.
My uncle didn’t survive the landing. That we have created memorials and that we visit them for all American fighting men and women in all the wars we’ve fought brings home the greatness that is the ongoing struggle of our spirit in being and becoming human rights advocates to the entire world. I went to the wall to touch the names. It broke my heart anew.
Yes Molly. Nicely said. We gave an uncle to France and we gave another to Italy. The wounded in conflicts that followed WWII were not so grievously injured. It is self evident that we all respond.
I played in a couple bands (one concert, one marching) with a short in stature and funny as all get out with a WWII Veteran. As a 1st Lieutenant, he parachuted onto Omaha beach and was one of 3 survivors of his platoon.. Our marching band's end song for every performance was "Loony Tunes", and he would always end it with a long descending chromatic scale on his clarinet that sounded like laughter at the end of it. When infirmity led to his having to stop playing, I took that over....only playing it at the very lowest pitch I could on the sousaphone.
Reading Heather’s great letter this morning reminds us of the power of our founding principles and the ideals to which they call us live as we celebrate our independence today. Have fun, everyone...and smile, how lucky we are to be Americans.
Thank you, Heather, for understanding so deeply the struggle in which we are now engaged and for reiterating those principles we must now again muster—consciously—to live by. May you and Buddy have a glorious Maine 4th.
Corporate Inc. is a sociopath; According to Milton Friedman, Reagan's guru, "The only corporate social responsibility a company has is to maximize its profits." If you exchange to word "company" with "person", what kind of person have you got?
Absolutely. And I am not well enough versed in history to know how much of his formula was his own think and he just the pitch man, even though he was genuinely and seemingly naively right wing. He seemed pretty out of it from his first days as president, long before his deteriorating mental state was revealed, and the press often commented on his confusion, but mostly gave him a pass (I recall one NYT article titled something like "What the President Know and When He Didn't Know It" that was less kind.
The phrase "Greed is good" came from a cautionary film about the evils of Wall St., but the right latched on to it, and made it a motto in the financial press. I dimly recall a one time hour long show on ABC defending the idea. They deliberately conflate aspiring to excel with predation. Yes, there is certainly such a thing as fair trade, a "square deal", and greater value to a superior product, just as there is a correlation between working energetically and reward, but that is far from the whole story. "Chicago School's" Milton Friedman, a Reagan advisor, crowed that the word "fair" appears nowhere in the Declaration or the Constitution. And yet the concept of justice is central to both, even appearing as as one of the keys of the Constitution's mission statement. He was just playing with words.
We teach our kids not to be greedy, but too often wink at greed and treachery when it suits our agenda, especially when we think of ourselves as the in-group and the others, the out-group.
Rupert Murdoch was one who went over and beyond, and got rewarded handsomely. Article in WaPo re Jan 1981 dinner in honor of Rupert. Per Jack Kemp “Rupert Murdoch used the editorial page, the front page, and every other page necessary to elect Ronald Reagan president. “ chump is not the only “president” that Rupert foisted on us. Just the two worst ones…
And the ditching of the Fairness Doctrine, the biggest reward to Rupert…as well as giving him the ability to gobble up a bigger share of communication outlets.
There you have it in a nutshell dear Selina - 'more' equal; the very thing they accuse 'others' of wanting. Just like every other accusation that unholy alliance has accused 'others' of doing, it's because that's precisely what 'they' are doing. Think back over their many accusations for a bit and you'll see this is spot on accurate. Happy Independence Yearning Day !
We celebrate the Country’s freedom from England on the Fourth and another important pronouncement of freedom on the Second. The day the Civil Rights Act was signed. While the 14th Amendment was important, the CRA was, too, and sadly was required to reinforce/define the 14th. It took 200 years to do that.
Unlike the originalists (read 6 SCOTUS justices) I think they get it wrong every time. The Founders were in an era that was what it was. But they used expansive, inclusive, language to (I think) allow flexibility, for themselves and others. That was not a mistake. It is also now clear from a plethora of scholarly writings that the founding mothers were just as important to the formation of the Union as their partners were; perhaps more so in many ways. That the mores of the times left women and people of colour/ the enslaved out of the conversation I like to think was just anachronism.
If the Originalists are correct, then we would not recognize women as equal, people of colour as equal, LBGTQ as equal; and the right to bear arms would mean a flintlock musket/pistol (that nobody had/could afford)… So struggling to get into the brains of people who were just trying to create a manifesto of freedom from oppression is a fool’s errand 250 year’s on.
I’d like to think that those folks, if they could opine, would be as progressive and inclusive as possible if they were injected into the culture wars of today. Certainly that is how I read their “intent” at the time, and using what they had at their disposal; writing with sharpened goose-feather pens and burning tallow to keep them able to work after dark. By the People and for the People meant a lot to them. They chose those words carefully.
We celebrate our independence for a good reason. But we can’t let ourselves forget that by freeing ourselves from the oppressors doesn’t mean that all the oppressed are all free…
Not one person, scholar or otherwise has convinced me that the “Originalists” are correct or that their position has any merit in our Republic. The only constant is change. A good government, by and for the People, reflects and embraces that. If it doesn’t it will surely fall of it doesn’t embrace change. Nonetheless: happy 247th to us, damaged but still here.🥂
Authoritarians appear to believe (or want us to believe) that legitimate authority isssues from certain special people, not evidence and not democracy. Those who would be autocrats are especially be keen on that. "Originalists" seem to me to be maintaining that the authority of the Constitution is grounded in the persons who wrote it, not the the Enlightenment principles they refined and codified. Modern physicists still build from concepts elucidated by Galileo, Newton and Einstein, among many others, and to be sure, the three mentioned were "authorities" in there fields, even if Galileo was deprived of contemporary recognition. But what these authors bequeathed that is useful is principals that reestablish their merit fitted to the changing circumstances of each new generation.. Each new round of humans breathes it's life into the textual Constitutional recipe, and into the democratic process.
I have been wondering if some of the more humane Supreme Court Justices pointed out to the “originalists” that their justification for repealing abortion rights would also lead to Clarence and Amy being deprived of the right to vote and that Clarence could be convicted of miscegenation in Georgia.
My sympathies and admiration for the "more humane" justices. It must be dispiriting and yet vital to call out steam-rolling abuses of power. RBG must be spinning like a top. I don't know what John Paul Stevens was thinking. Yeah, he deserved a break, but it's been crystal clear for a long time what kind of person Trump was and is. His abdication was a patently bad move considering the enemy at the gate. Stevens was a Republican, but of the Eisenhower kind, not a fascist. He would have done his party a favor by denying MAGAs the opportunity to corrupt the court, and to badly besmirch it's legacy.
Well, I blew this one badly, and somehow crossed my memory wires between Stevens and Kennedy. Kennedy was a different kettle of fish, but still (as I peer back though the fog) a judge with some measure of honor to him. It is less surprising he caved to Trump, but still....
Authoritarianism (“patrimony“) wishes to establish a world order where “might equals right“. It’s pretty simple and it’s pretty fundamental, and it’s probably how a substantial portion of people have wished to dominate as long as people have existed. People are vulnerable, and people can be afraid, and it takes maturity and vision to establish cooperative and mutually beneficial ways of relating. Honoring our vulnerability creates a safe space in which to continue to forge new cooperative models.
Democracy is more nuanced and clearly difficult, and always requires a phenomenal amount of effort, but it’s such an exquisite alternative that it merits our ongoing work for so long as people exist on this land. It really does recall Martin Luther King‘s “beloved community“, and may it ever inspire our creativity, dedication in every and all circumstances, no matter what direction the country appears to be headed.
To tirelessly work to become more responsive and responsible and caring, and non-reactive is a way to honor our time on earth. And, of course, we all need to also, in that “tireless“ work, rest and recuperate and celebrate our lives and lives. Not a bad way to spend the Fourth of July!
I'll steal from G.K.Chesterton who was speaking of Christianity, but would apply to democracy, that democracy has not been tried and found wanting. It has bee tired a found difficult. That how Reagan got away with bashing it, but it is more than worth the effort, (here borrowing from Churchill) compared to all the other alternatives that have be tried from time to time.
Beautifully and most importantly well stated! Every day that we forget the constant of change botuh within and without, we lose something. Thank you, thank you.
"He (sic) who kisses the joy as it flies lives in eternity's sunrise." - Blake. Not to say forget the past or ignore our possible futures, but now is thinner than a razor's edge and time flows.
These so called 'originalists' use sleight of hand Alan. They pick and choose words, and then twist meanings. My big takeaway from today's LFAA is that which our Dr. accentuated when she wrote, ".... pledged their “Lives, [their] Fortunes and [their] sacred Honor” to defend the idea of human equality." This nation was birthed by a blood oath among men who represented the peoples of their colonies, including of course Virginia. These most educated and wealthiest men of those days laid their lives, Fortunes, honor, and indeed their families and azzes on the line, knowing if they did less, none would follow, and they would all hang together if it all failed. There were those behind the Confederacy and those today who want to take that blood oath back, as though it were never a 'thing' they would swear to. They reveal souls with no honor.
Worse than traitors. Charlatans in robes/positions of power preserving a past but twisting it for themselves to maintain legitimacy. A house of cards I expect to see fall in my lifetime.👏🏽
Well said. The "Originalists" patently don't believe that women, people of color, LBGTQ are equal; and I'm sure they know full well that "bear arms" meant a flintlock musket/pistol. But I don't believe all of the original signers believed in equality, either.
The original signers were in the world of their time, sticking their necks out, quite literally. Whether they believed every word is not as important as that they were ready to die for a set of principles that would make the world of the moment a better place. That’s what President Biden and his cohorts are trying for. Not perfection, but better for everyone. American soft power is our greatest power and it is more an ideal than a reality.
Virginia, I take your points, but I don't buy the "that was the world at the time" argument. In every era, there are and were people who had a much more full understanding of equality than others, and fought for THAT equality. There were and are people who did some good while perpetrating worse evil. I believe it's crucial to make those distinctions and not let people off the hook. It matters.
You expect or hope for far more than I of humans. As long as parents beat children and children are deprived of learning what it takes to be a “good person,” or food to thrive, or warmth and fun, I do not believe all can live only by distant examples (heroes, words, etc.). Each of us needs a different degree of sustenance to reach full potential and fewer of us get it as children live in refugee camps, in poverty in America, in authoritarian regimes.
Rereading your text, not certain why you think I “let people off the hook. The signers were on the hook from the moment they signed and the document went out.
Yes, I do expect more of humans! I meant, "let people off the hook" for holding unacceptable views because of the times they lived in. My point is that there were plenty of people living at the same time DID understand that women and people of all races are equal and should have equal rights, and fought for those rights. And they deserve more credit than those who didn't.
Well, I wasn’t speaking for everyone at the time. And I agree with you that not everybody had that level of enlightenment, if I can call it that. But I do believe that the authors likely did understand what they were penning. nothing in this world has ever been free or easy throughout history, but I think the Constitution, in terms of moving the world forward, was a groundbreaking achievement. It is, nonetheless, the great experiment. My only point in celebrating our freedom was that we need to keep our eye on the prize and understand that change comes in fits and spurts; and as long as we’re working for it, and not against it, we will prevail.🙏🏼
What exactly is "equal justice under law", the phrase engraved on the SCOTUS building? I suggest that any easy answer is the mark of a fool. I think it is sometimes achievable but mostly aspirational, which is not to say that it isn't admirable when when we are doing the best we can manage. As in the sciences, we have to make decisions without the benefit (or trap of) certainty. The reality of dynamic and developing universe mean one size does not fit all, and yet our aim is an unbiased standard, thus the icon of the "blind" scales of justice. We don't insist that people in wheel chairs use public stairways. A body armor-piercing rifle, now on sale to the public, the SIG Sauer MCX-Spear https://www.businessinsider.com/gun-sold-to-civilians-sig-sauer-mcx-spear-2022-7?op=1 " 'It'll shoot through almost all of the bulletproof vests worn by law enforcement in the county right now,' Ryan Busse, a former firearms company executive and senior policy analyst with the Giffords Law Center, told the outlet.", a big stretch from the "Founder's" muskets. Oliver Wendell Holmes famously employed the analogy of "The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic..", and while Homes use of it to condemn opposition the the draft seems misapplied, (and was later reinterpreted) the notion that free speech is not absolute appears sound, though somehow the 2nd Amendment is applied more literally. As in the matter of free speech, one may be moved to err on the side of protecting certain human rights, but behavior becomes society's concern when it is causing or unacceptably risking substantial public harm, such as in DUI.
I have had some experience arguing against "originalists" and their misguided misunderstanding of the values enshrined in the U.S.A.'s founding documents. My response to HCR's post today may be of interest:
This is the most important point from today's LFAA:
But just as in the 1850s, we are now, once again, facing a rebellion against our founding principle, as a few people seek to reshape America into a nation in which certain people are better than others.
Reading this helped me realize that this is true. It's on all of us to win the upcoming elections.
That is one important point David, I agree. I also agree with you on > "It's on all of us to win the upcoming elections." Brava ! Under the post by H. Alan Kantrud, a few posts down from this, I'll share one of my takeaways.
It’s cyclical. We go through this crucible every 75 years. Will wi manage to wrest Democracy back from the reactionary bear trying to devour it? Jury is still out. Literally.
It’s inspiring to keep these statements in mind today, even as we see how far we still are from equality in this nation. I used to believe we were getting closer all the time; now I sometimes wonder if we are heading in the wrong direction.
Just too many of US have lost our way. Look at the obese and remember that fat is a disease. It’s not “nice” fact to bring in on Independence Day, but if it inspires anyone to think carefully about what he/she is eating, or to set an example to friends and family by eating a better diet, perhaps I may be forgiven.
I grew up with vegetable gardens and two parents who were very conscious of keeping their appropriate weight, which then was basically “what you weighed in high school.” Observing how many overweight/obese older people were dying of Covid, I was not surprised to see a headline in the UCLA Health Letter “Fat is a Disease” and to read that it should be treated accordingly. Having seen what overweight has done to my daughter, I feel fortunate to be only 20 pounds above my high school weight. But I have never been sedentary nor eaten a typical American diet. At 89 I am doing Pilates classes twice a week and walking less than I should.
No doubt that’s your body type. My husband, in his early seventies, is also within 20 pounds of his high school weight. He eats anything he wants, including lots of ice cream and cookies.
He’s lucky. I cannot do that. Neither could my parents. My father (a true jokester) would come home on Friday evening if he had eaten lunch in cafes near his office instead of taking his bag lunch, and say immediately as he entered “Gotta lose five pounds this weekend” because away from a desk, gardening, hunting, fishing, dealing with chickens, and eating my mother’s cooking (she could fry a chicken in so little oil that there would be none left in the pan when the chicken was done) mostly vegetables from the garden and homemade breads, he could lose the pounds.
Right on, Heather. Wexall need to be vigilant and stand up to anyone who tries to take back the equality of humans. A lot if this we can do by voting for those who value the worth of all. Thank you for reminding us of this.
Women are not included in the US Constitution. We need to publish the Equal Rights Amendment NOW!
Yes, we need to have the Congress pass HR 17----removes the deadline to ratify the ERA. If Congress removes the ratification deadline, the Amendment will be added to the Constitution because it now has all the State ratification votes for it that are needed.
I fully support removing the deadline for the ERA, but it can't happen until the christofacists are removed from congress in 2024.
Actually President Biden could order publication with one phone call to the National archivist.
this and the SCOTUS are excellent items to motivate the base. Dems seems to be missing in actions on it.
I bet the majority of Heather's readers haven't even heard of this. Spread the word
https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/tnyradiohour/segments/lepore-amend-constitution
This 20-min conversation between David Remnick & Jill Lepore is terrific. Very thoughtful words. Thanks, Jim, for posting the link.
And this, in print, is another version re: these excellent observations in the 20-minute tnyradiohour podcast to which Jim Holley linked in his post: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/01/opinion/constitutional-amendments-american-history.html
Thank you for your post; Trying not to despair.
My thoughts....nothing is going to get done with these current elected USA critters! They are about the money and their own pockets!
DECLARATION OF WOMEN'S INDEPENDENCE
If there is one woman whom women should owe allegiance to, then Elizabeth Cady Stanton should be the one, and perhaps as their 'God'
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the most influential women and a social activist who who rose to fight against the subjugation and subordination of women. Organised the Seneca Falls Convention, the firebrand crusader of women's rights crested a document dubbed "The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions" with which the 68 women and 32 women who were in attendance signed it. However, 200 people did not sign it.
As controversial as she was, one of the contents of the document stated that "The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her."
In 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft published A Vindication of the Rights of Women, highly regarded by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. In it, she expressed her indignant regard of her society's subjugation of women and her quest for equality: "...laws respecting woman,...make an absurd unit of a man and his wife. ...only considering him as responsible, she is reduced to a mere cypher. ... I really think that women ought to have representatives, instead of being arbitrarily governed without having any direct share allowed them in the deliberations of government." The courage of these women is even more admirable for the utter lack of legal recourse available to them — and the increased marital, societal and financial vulnerability they exposed themselves to.
Though she was in the 19th century, her ideas were modern and foresaw enormous legislative changes that the world at large, especially here in Africa, have adopted. In Africa, some countries have developed the 2/3 gender rule to fill elective positions that are highly regarded as patriarchal.
Thank you. We are fortunate to have your voice.
Thank you so much. I feel fired up. I welcome you to subscribe to my newsletter. I have hard-to-find historical data about our history coming soon.
Thank you, Edwin. I am ‘way behind with African history except for a bit of early Egypt. (And, of course, “The African Queen.”) I will try to read and learn from you.
I just did! Also, feel free to check out Daniel’s Thoughts and Opinions.
Subscribe to my newsletter, your goal it seems
Thank you; this broadens my understanding of her influence. And so good to have a forum for such an easy, international dialogue.
Despite her statements seeming controversial, her resolve to demand respect for women and inclusion in legislative decision-making was a bold move that I personally applaud.
I became a "Women's Libber" when I was six years old. We wee living in Texas in 1946, a community property state that gave all and total control over community property to the husband. My mom complained to me about how unfair this was. I believed her. I think that I was her sounding board. While women have made great gains and great contributions, there's still a whole lot of work to be done. MAGA is little more than the South having risen again. I don't know if there will ever be a day when misogyny and racism no longer exist.
I don't think most people including women have any idea of how long they were basically chattel with no legal rights. We find this in Pride and Prejudice....five daughters who couldn't inherit and of Downton Abbey, once again all daughters. One of the Vita Sackville West's great laments was that she couldn't inherit her ancestral pile, Knole, because she was a woman. History is replete with women barely existing except for the ties to some male and being a burden because they needed a dowry. My own mother-in-law was the first person to have a Meier and Frank (now Macy's) credit card in her own name. And as woman, I have put up with 80 years of mansplaining and having my opinion ignored or being talked over. Now we have a Supreme Court where five men and the handmaiden are determined to set us back (and not only women) to a white patriarchal theocratic society.
Yes, definitely, there are those among us who want to stop the progress that females and minorities are making in this country. This is why I often mention Timothy Egan's book, "A Fever in the Heartland," about the rise of the KKK in the 1920's. MAGA is really KKK. Regarding misogyny, google "The Anger Games, Who voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 Election, and Why?" It's a study by two Univ. of Kansas professors and one of the reasons Trump got their votes is his (and their) misogyny.
I have read A Fever in the Heartland and have recommended it often. I am Hoosier born and raised and I was outraged and disgusted. I only knew that Indiana had the highest number of KKK members in the 1920s. My ex-classmate in Elkhart who is highly resistant to knowledge and education tried to tell me that Italians were welcome in Elkhart. Well, neither she nor I were around in the 1920s, and I gave her the information about the great fall in Italian immigration after the 1924 immigration act. I heard a lot of prejudice of all kinds from my family, but I hope none of them were KKK members. I tend to think not, but it wouldn't surprise me if they knew people who were. As a woman, I am well aware of misogyny. For me it is made worse because I am well-educated, well-read, and reasonably intelligent. I have a neighbor who recently said he regards himself as a feminist (he was saying he should have listened to his wife) and he is the mansplainer I most encounter in person. He understands intellectually (as did my father), but not emotionally. Plenty of them online as well.
I agree about MAGA being KKK and I also call MAGA Nazis because they are subscribing in reality to the extermination of all people who are not White Christians, with males at the helm and women filling the role of helpmates and breeders.
Thanks for the Timothy Egan recommendation! I've learned so much history from him, I'll read this one, even though this topic is increasingly depressing to me. Misogyny and white supremacism are rampant and basically immoral and unethical, and so deeply ingrained that they are possibly not visible to those who practice them.
I share your experiences & age of recent hx. being asked during a job interview of what kind of birth control do I use. Credit card denial. Along with the mansplaining & opinions ignored or considered less than those of a male
Wow....I can't imagine being asked about birth control in a job interview. The nearest I came to that sort of thing is when I was coaching girls basketball and there was a really bad disparity between preparing the court for the boys and nothing for the girls. In fact, I had to throw out boys shooting baskets. In this instance, I was complaining to our AD who had me in a bear hug and told me to put in a tampon. I did mention that he had said that shortly afterwards and he acted like did I actually say that. Well, yes, a.hat, you did. I also explained that women could become angry anytime over inequality and that it had nothing to do with periods. He was awful to his first wife and one of his daughters committed suicide. He has ended up with a very nice woman who is better than he deserves. My husband has a friend who i do like and he is a wonderful punster. But he hangs on my husband's every word and then looks at his phone while I am talking. Pffft. I had to tell another friend of ours when we were talking about writing letters that I had taught expository writing because he thought only my husband can write. The truth is that I can write, but it does nothing for me and I would rather spend my precious time (I am 80) reading. I also had a ex-student, female, complaining about the original women's march. She played basketball for me. I explained to her, without mentioning details, that she had no idea what I had to put up with to coach girls. And that she had no idea about the history of the treatment of women.
WHAT?!!!! I feel so naiive. I didn't know that asking about birth control was even possible during an job interview. What did you tell them?
Unbelievable
When I was divorced in early 70s - I had NO credit - of all things, had to ask my ex husband to co-sign a loan so I could buy a tractor to mow the lawn. I have to say - after that I did not look back!!! Man-splaining? Oh yes - far too much.
I remember here in Illinois when my aunt divorced her husband and even though she had been working throughout their marriage too, and had contributed to their credit, she lost her credit totally by being divorced. Luckily she was keeping the house. Since he lived in another state he could not live in it anyway. I was just shocked as a child to realize that she was a second class citizen. Her husband, who was from Panama, was very sexist anyway. I remember her being upstairs giving my little cousin a bath and he called for her to come downstairs and fix him a drink. I remember thinking how he was willing to let the baby drown just to have her get him a drink when he was right next to the kitchen and could have easily gotten it himself. I know there are still homes like that where it is expected that the women serve the man, and it is just unfortunate that we evolved these roles, just as we evolved with so much racism.
Wow. It is difficult to imagine how her ex could have had that frame of mind. To state the obvious, the human brain is not inherently rational in thought. It's a good thing that animals in the wild don't have human brains because they'd never survive. We have a great capacity for self deception.
I have posted this before: every single woman MUST read "When Everything Changed" by Gail Collins. Every man should as well.
I had never heard of it - absolutely will look for it at the library! Thanks.
Thank you for the recommendation.
These stories, each very personal and formative, are acquiring a weight—a historical weight and authority—as they accrue in these responses and exchanges. Much as I thought I understood, these personal stories, in their brevity and plain presentation are powerful engines for empathetic response. Perhaps a book, a collection of these stories, would help to draw support for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. Examples that stimulate empathy may draw more supporters—active, voting, supporters—than may well-reasoned argument.
"The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), first proposed in 1923, is an amendment to the United States Constitution that guarantees equality of rights under the law for all persons regardless of sex.
"As of January 27, 2020, the ERA has satisfied the requirements of Article V of the Constitution for ratification (passage by two-thirds of each house of Congress and approval by three-fourths of the states)."
"Leading constitutional scholars agree that the ERA is now part of the Constitution. Because of issues raised about its unique ratification process (explained on the Frequently Asked Questions page), the Archivist of the United States has not yet taken the final ministerial step of publishing the ERA in the Federal Register with certification of its ratification as the 28th Amendment."
https://www.equalrightsamendment.org/
The Equal Rights Amendment has met all of the requirements for ratification according to Article V of the Constitution. We need an order to publish by POTUS to the National Archivist. That’s it!
Thank you for your worthy reply. If possible, I welcome you to subscribe to my newsletter and engage robustly on issues that matter to you.
Thank you for the invitation. At 89, a bot slow and short of funds, about to start writing postcards to get out the vote in America as I hope to help save the democracy, I may have to continue to read you here only.
Wooow! Age is gold. I am happy that you are engaging with us here. I feel honoured to have you here.
As grateful and in awe as I am about Cady Stanton's achievements for women—and I am— it's important also to say that she and Susan B. Anthony, and many suffragists of the time, did not include Black women in their push for women's rights, and argued that white women should have been enfranchised before Black men. There were white suffragists who did not draw those race distinctions, and Black suffragists who were fighting just as diligent and against greater odds.
So true, we rise these women as heroes for the cause. But, actually the underlining history tells the real history of the women’s movement. Unfortunately no one is perfect.
...and with very few exceptions they were all products of the times and environments in which they were brought up and in which they lived, as are we.
And today Black women are a potent force in this country, too many to mention, but at the forefront right now - Stacey Abrams. She is amazing. Well, I do have to mention Barbara Jordan (RIP). As a society, we keep learning how easy it is for us to underestimate each other. At least, I keep learning and learning and learning how wrong I've been even though I've been around bright, strong females my entire life. I think that confirmation bias slips into the picture at times.
Richard, yes, I would happily cede control of the country to Stacey Abrams, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Karen Bass et al right now.
You and I are definitely in sync on this. To this I would add Barbara Lee, the only Congressional member to vote against authorizing the invasion of Iraq. Still, with all due respect to the other ladies, Stacey Abrams is in a league of her own. She's brilliant beyond words.
And our Vice President Kamala Harris
Helen, absolutely. I must have been asleep when I wrote that! Thanks!
I apologize for a misstatement above. I meant to say implicit bias, not confirmation bias. I grew up in Jim Crow Texas in the 1940's and '50's. It would be no exaggeration to say that females and minorities were treated disparangingly and this impression of unworthiness can creep into one's thinking ever so insidiously. Two really good books on the post Civil War era and how we have looked at it and been affected by it are Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s book (Stony the Road) about Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow along with James Loewen's book, "Lies My Teacher Told Me." They do inform us.
True. Despite her worthy efforts, he lost a moral ground with regard to advocating for universal human rights for all regardless of their race or gender. Elizabeth Cady Stanton once stated that having black men as voters before white women beats "logic." She further went and said that black women are worse off when they are under black men than when they were under white masters. "We educated, virtuous white women are more worthy of the vote.' Elizabeth Cady Stanton further said 'What will we and our daughters suffer if these degraded black men are allowed to have the rights that would make them even worse than our Saxon fathers?.
It was a great blow to me to learn it — but it also made me more alert to hypocrisy and pledge to do better.
It seems to me those who were fighting for the rights of certain groups had their own Weaknesses and did not incorporate the larger human picture of universal human rights.
advance is "uneven" right Alexandra? She was an ardent abolitionist on the other hand. You'll find this across the board when you explore past and present attitudes and values. Morality is "jellybean"... but look, i started reading Wikipedia on her (again) and it's chock full of interesting detail. I'm putting aside for now, but it almost feels like "novelette". A full biography would make a wonderful read.
Frank, I'm doing a deep dive into California history that very much includes Cady Stanton. She was a great leader - but that makes it even more important not to overlook her failings. Other suffragists of the time split with her and Anthony and formed a second women's suffrage organization in great part because of this issue.
Yes indeed, read abt that. Today we would call this her "failings" in today's mores, but she was hardly alone in her views. Her denial of full equal voting rights for blacks also reflects a widespread belief, boltered by contemporary science, that blacks were biologically inferior to whites. It shows how technological superiority advanced and bolstered supposedly objective science thanks to imperial conquests and colonizations. All non-whites into that category too. Her husband never went along with voting rights for women, Wiki gave a nice thumbnail on their relationship. Women were widely regarded as over emotional and lacking in intellect. She faced that prejudice in a London conference where it was virtually a "men only" event, with women being relegated to a segregated watching room only. Moral change is usually a struggle.
Which is why progress is difficult to come by. Certain people on the left do not understand that and they certainly were very foolish and arrogant during the 2016 election. So if they are complaining about the direction the the Supreme Court has taken us, they bear some of the blame.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and California?! I'm curious to know what one has to do with the other. I always associate Cady Stanton with upstate NY, because she grew up in Johnstown, Fulton County, and of course spent time in Seneca Falls.
"He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice.
He has withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men—both
natives and foreigners.
Having deprived her of this first right of a citizen, the elective franchise, thereby leaving her without
representation in the halls of legislation, he has oppressed her on all sides.
He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead.
He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns" Elizabeth Cady Stanton further stated in the said document.
For those of you who are requesting for a thread on different historical issues that matter to you, I welcome your move and I am greatly indebted to this community. In the coming days, I will reveal hard-to-find historical relations between Africa and America. I welcome you to subscribe to my newsletter (with indeph information and more engagements) for free.
Edwin, I invite you to please stop pushing your newsletter on us. We can all see that you have one, and that your writing is worthy. It is in bad taste to use Dr. Richardson's newsletter to advertise. Thank you for your contribution, and your understanding.
How do we see each other...here may be a guide to holding each and everyone of us. It is a great start to possibly seeing Christ in everyone. There may be only one person that's truly living, The Christ.
"In Christ, we always begin with perfect God and perfect Man, the absolute reality of being. Man is the image of perfect Mind; this, is the only real man and includes true identity of each of us. The real man is: spiritual, pure, sinless, satisfied, complete, expressing undeaviating Principle and is characterized absolute integrity and adherence to stiritual law."
John DeWitt, Christian Science Board of Lectureship
No proselytizing here! Please.
"The real man is: spiritual, pure, sinless, satisfied, complete, expressing undeaviating Principle and is characterized absolute integrity and adherence to stiritual law."
Absolutely 💯
“In Christ, we always begin with perfect God and perfect Man”
And therein lies the problem. You cannot break open your thinking based on a book written by men, for men, making god in their own image. The Creative Force made humanity, flaws and all. Our ability to survive our flaws and rise to the harmonious, sustainable existence we need on this unique Blue Marble, is continually being tested. Holding on to patriarchal myths will NEVER get us to harmony or sustainability.
Edwin and all, I found this statement years ago and now talk with my best friend every time I meet someone. He is there but we must chose to see. So, I ask one more time, how do we see each other? I look through that statement and see all it offers....we can give each other dignity by holding everyone up to that statement. Again the statement is this... In Christ, we always begin with perfect God and perfect Man, the absolute reality of being. Man is the image of perfect Mind; this, is the only real man and includes true identity of each of us. The real man is: spiritual, pure, sinless, satisfied, complete, expressing undeaviating Principle and is characterized absolute integrity and adherence to stiritual law
Again, subscribe to my newsletter
Her document further states "He has denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education—all colleges being closed against
her.
He allows her in Church as well as State, but a subordinate position, claiming Apostolic authority for
her exclusion from the ministry, and, with some exceptions, from any public participation in the affairs
of the Church."
As a young girl, she detested the fact that as a married woman, she won't be entitled to personal property ownership, and she found this as personal insult. "She seethed when one of the judge's law students, Henry Bayard, upon being shown Elizabeth's new Christmas gifts, teased, "if in due time you should be my wife, those ornaments would be mine."" This revealed the extent with which patriarchy and subjugation of women as inferior had become so pervasive in the 19th century and reflected in legal and organizational structures.
I am learning so much today. What an infuriating, vivid anecdote. “She seethed ... “ I am now seeking out all I can read about Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Any suggestions for best biographies about her are appreciated.
I'm so glad I did not grow up during those times!
Have you discovered Matilda Joslyn Gage yet? She's the co-author of the _History of Woman Suffrage_ (along with Stanton and Susan B. Anthony) that too many people have never heard of. There's a reason for that: she was intersectional long before her time, and that didn't go over well with most of the white single-issue suffragists. She was also highly critical of organized religion. Check out her _Woman, Church & State_ when you have a chance.
Just found Matilda Joslyn Gage’s “History of Woman Suffrage” and “Woman, Church & State” on Kindle. Thank you for your post!
Check out the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation (https://matildajoslyngage.org/) when you have a chance. Lots of resources there! Little-known fact: she was L. Frank "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" Baum's mother-in-law.
Susanna, thanks so much for this info about the foundation & the link to the org! Fabulous.
Pass it on! As you've probably guessed, I'm a fan. Not for nothing is my laptop named Matilda. ;-)
Edwin Seneca Falls (1848) was a hallmark occasion, with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frederick Douglass, and some other men that underscores the rights of women for equality.
There are many men who contributed immensely to the modern-day women's rights and I celebrate them.
I have read that the Suffragettes in Seneca Falls were influenced by the relative high position that women held in the Haudenausaunee Nation, known as the Iroquois by non Natives. While the mainstream women's suffrage movement was based on White Supremacy, there were other women involved in the suffrage movement.
https://www.lwv.org/blog/how-native-american-women-inspired-womens-suffrage-movement#:~:text=Many%20don't%20know%20that,influenced%20the%20movement's%20early%20stages.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/vote-not-all-women-gained-right-to-vote-in-1920/
While the mainstream women's suffrage movement did not include Black women, Black women started their own organizations, and Frederick Douglas, a former slave and his family supported the women's suffrage movement too.
https://www.nps.gov/articles/black-women-and-the-fight-for-voting-rights.htm#:~:text=In%201913%2C%20Ida%20B.,elections%20and%20held%20political%20offices.
https://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/blog/black-womens-fight-for-suffrage/
https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/five-you-should-know-african-american-suffragists
Asian women were also involved in the Suffrage movement although also not given credit for it in most histories. https://www.nps.gov/people/mabel-lee.htm#:~:text=Mabel%20Lee%20was%20a%20suffragist,Mabel%20the%20right%20to%20vote.
https://www.alicepaul.org/six-influential-aapi-women-in-suffrage-history/
https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/exhibits/suffrage/Pages/context/asian-american.aspx
https://www.helloprosper.co/learn/asian-women-suffragists
Again, Latina women were involved in the fight for Suffrage although they too are often not mentioned in the history books. https://www.govexec.com/management/2022/07/nina-otero-warren-latina-champion-womens-voting-rights-and-education-new-mexico-will-soon-grace-us-quarters/374237/
https://womensmuseum.wordpress.com/2020/05/22/latinx-women-in-the-u-s-womens-suffrage-movement/
So, keeping that in mind I could not say that about Elizabeth Cady Stanton, because that is not the history that I see.
What really angers me is that women are being encouraged in many groups to have second class status. I am referring to the roles conservative branches of religions play in keeping women subservient. Evangelical White Christians are basically trying to hold onto a lifestyle for women that was supposed to have disappeared over 100 years ago, where women are in essence having no say over their lives as they did back in the days before suffrage. Women lost their property to their husbands at marriage. I can see why women of means would not want to marry. It was a losing proposition other than for having children because children born under marriage are sanctioned as legitimate, and otherwise they are not.
And, please include Matilda Goslyn Gage, referenced just today in The Guardian. https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20230703-matilda-joslyn-gage-the-suffragist-who-defied-the-us-government
Wooow! I will read about this woman today. And sure I will. Thank you
Still today via the Dobbs decision over her own body, Edwin.
I have a list of all women who attended the convention, but I will only write a few. Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Martha C. Wright, Jane Hunt, and Mary McClintock were women who organised for the Seneca Falls Convention on July 14, 1848. With a short notice of 3 days on July 18, 1848, they were pessimistic that a few people will attend, but to their surprise, 300 were in attendance. Lucratia Mott was the one who started the convention presentation and followed by Elizabeth Cady Stanton who read the Declaration of Sentiments. Their Declaration of Sentiments stated that "all men and women are created equal" and not "all men are created equal."
What can we say of these men who attended the First Women Rights Convention at the Seneca Falls? Richard P. Hunt, Samuel D. Till man, Justin Williams, Elisha Foote, Frederick Douglas, Henry Seymour, David Spalding, William Parker, Elisha Doty, John Williams, William Dell, James Mott, William Burroughs, Sharon Philips, Jacob Matthews,...the list is endless. I can say they were ahead of their time, when society degraded when constitutionally.
I sincerely hope to see the ERA Amendment ratified in my lifetime….been wanting far too long for it to be so. My grandmother, born in So CA in 1898 didn’t get the right to vote until she was in her early 20’s—she was always forward-thinking, and tho’ we never really talked politics, her day-to-day life & actions spoke of inclusion and equal rights/justice. She passed in 1979 nearly reaching her 100th year. I miss her still.
I think we will see it. All it takes at this time is a Democratic majority in the House, 52 democrats in the Senate (with 50 willing to suspend the filibuster, since Manchin and Sinema refuse) - and it happens.
The Dems need to run with that promise in 2024. It is so close. I think it will happen.
And then all the restrictions that the GOP are imposing on women’s autonomy of our bodies is completely obliterated.
We will be dancing in the streets-what a party that will be! 💃🏻🕺🏻🥳
The ERA would be terrific. Restoring women’s bodily autonomy nationally will also require repair to voting rights and repair of the courts. At the very least, balancing the Extreme Court and adding an enforceable ethics code. Preferably restricting that court to its constitutionally assigned cases of original jurisdiction, and transferring all other cases to a new Federal Review Court with all the guardrails : term limits, strict enforceable ethics requirements and procedural requirements including proper use of any shadow docket, etc,etc.
What an excellent vision: “... restricting that court to its constitutionally assigned cases of original jurisdiction, and transferring all other cases to a new Federal Review Court with all the guardrails ...” How wonderfully sane.
Joan, I’m afraid we’ll not see this in our lifetime, unless, we manage to give the Democrats a ‘supermajority’ in both the House and Senate, plus a forward thinking President.
Even so, if we add this idea to the conversation, it will make the proposed Judiciary Act of 2023 changes look moderate by comparison, which will help it pass within our expected lifetimes. Plus, my expected lifetime may not be that much longer, but I care about the world in which my daughter and her children will live.
Oops, transposed numbers….she left for whatever comes next in 1997, not 1979….that much earlier would have robbed us all of some excellent adventures & experiences.
Wow! What a life--you were so fortunate to have her for your grandmother!🗽
Many people were left behind
Including the indigenous people who were pushed out of their ancestral lands and continue to be oppressed. It's no surprise that this former colonial enterprise continues to oppress all those who were excluded on the basis of gender, religious beliefs as well as non-belief, skin color, and all the other reasons amendments to the constitutions are still needed desperately.
Indeed!
Writing in the NY Times on Sunday(7/2), Jill Lapore, in "How to Stave Off Constitutional Extinction", argues that our Constitution will cease to be the living document it is if we can no longer amend what Thomas Paine (in Common Sense) said we have " every opportunity . . . to form the noblest purest constitution on the face of the earth." She concludes "Americans won't be able to agree anytime soon on how to amend the U.S. Constitution . . . Amending is what makes the Constitution everyone's." But it's now in the hands of a perverse, illogical court of
"Originalists" who misread it for their own selfish ends. Amend it, America, or watch the dream perish.
There was real risk in what the signers did in Philadelphia 247 years ago today. And they knew it: "Let us hang together, or we'll all hang separately." ----B. Franklin, Printer. In thanks for our nation, for all who died for it, for all who lived for it, for all who fought and continue to fight for human equality, the climate, and justice.
Happy Birthday Americans. We need to fix what's broken.
The fight for equality must include ALL people, regardless of gender, race, religion, sexual identity and preference, etc. The Supreme Court, through its recent decisions, appears hellbent on restoring the country to the 18th century, despite our history since then towards a more equal society. Rather than affirm or expand rights of certain classes of people, they have extinguished them, and more rights are being challenged (gay marriage, contraception, etc.)
I fear equality will always be a struggle.
Our constitution is the oldest in the developed world.
Amendments be damned.
How about a complete rewrite?
Not until women are legally covered by the current co stitution.
Well that's a helluva catch-22.
If you're right, we're in worse shape than I thought.
Or we could just make women truly equal. Which we are getting closer and closer to.
The ERA has met all requirements of Article V. Publication is the only step between legal equality.
I remember in elementary school hearing those words that all men are created equal and believing them. My parents and grandparents came to America believing those words. That was crucial to their decision of where to go. I hope in our slow and sometimes painful steps to insure a more perfect union we get there and become that shining city on a hill. I hope Dr. King’s arc of justice is right. It is worth working for and hoping for and believing in.
Molly, the arc is bending. In the 1960’s, it was rare to see a white person marching for civil rights. In the George Floyd protests, a substantial percentage of the protesters were white. Yes, it’s moving toward justice, but way too slow.
Please don't underestimate 60s civil rights activism. I remember that decade very well. In Seattle there was an active CORE group, and well known people were working for equal rights. Some went to Mississippi and joined in the protests there. Black leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King in 1961, came up from the south and spoke to large audiences here.
I participated in the Seattle school boycott. Later in the decade there was violence. White groups targeted White and Black civil rights activists, and Black groups targeted Whites. Edwin Pratt moved his family here in 1961 to lead the Urban League and was assassinated at his home in 1969. He is remembered to this day, and two parks and a fine arts school are named for him.
Thank you for this piece of history, particularly about the Urban League. Marc Morial is my first acquaintance with that organization. Now I have Pratt’s background as yesterday, watching Mrs. Evers interview with Joy Ried, I was reminded of Medger Evers whose death by assassination I remember well.
Ruth, thank you for sharing this history. I was not denigrating the activism of the 1960’s. I’m just saying that, when my mom marched to desegregate the Oklahoma City schools, she was the only white person in a group of over 50. I’ve looked at the famous pictures of the marches at that time and the racial mix seems overwhelmingly one-sided.
Kudos to your mother!! It's true, times and people have changed in so many ways.
Do you not remember Selma?
A speech both simple and profound, Lincoln wondered if anyone cared. It speaks volumes with so very few words. It moves us through the ages and reminds us of what we could, and should, be.
I believe it's the single most compelling and effective speech in America's history. Lincoln beautifully made his point in as few words as possible. A speech for the ages.
Yes! That all are created equal, along with the Gettysburg address, “words to live by in 2023.”
Molly Ciliberti, perhaps you will take a look at my post on the original meaning of the Declaration:
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-3-2023/comment/18093263
Another pusher of his substack, trolling for subscribers.
p.s. I don't have a substack. The link was to a post I made in response to HCR.
Report the troll
We are one race, human, with equal rights and standing under the law. We are innocent until proven guilty.
If we can do this we can then look to how we treat and interact with the other creatures on this planet, as this is their home too.
Molly, I wish humankind could embrace this concept and integrate it in our whole being, and banish the greed and avarice that seems to act so boldly within so so so many of us. IMHO greed is killing us, our fellow species and the planet as we know it. Sigh, I have never understood it. At. All.
Yesterday vision of a cartoon: group of billionaires sitting at a table eating paper money. One says “Why isn’t there any catsup”? It’s for the greedy who refuse to recognize climate change of course. We have to change diet, housing, get back to small vegetable gardens. Americans were much more equipped to deal with scarcity during WWII than now and not just because of the Great Depression. We were closer to the land and to basic truths about being human: food, skills, and fun.
Oh Virginia. You are singing my song.
Every child should know the basics of growing enough food to survive on. And then be introduced to the idea of trading products with others. They should know where their water comes from and how precious it is.
They should know the difference between the super processed junk and the real food. Nutrition should be a primary focus.
And how is it that in the richest nation in the history of the Earth - with many $ trillions available, it is even a question as to whether an American has a good roof over her/his head? Why isn't having two full time jobs enough to raise kids and survive on?
How can it be that ANY veteran would even have to ask for shelter, water and food? Why doesn't each service member have an advocate? Who are we?
We are nuts. We have embraced malnutrition and trickle down economics for starters. I would say ONE job to support a family in case one member wants to parent and the other wants to work outside. But we must add no more than one “natural” child per family and begin thinking how to have graceful adoptions of the world’s orphans. I have seen two very successful ones, know it takes special people, but think the idea needs to be in the public sphere.
Yes Bill yes Virginia good food good wickiups. Good living. Joy.
And learn to cook!
Do you know about once-upon-a-time “Home-Ec” classes in high schools. For girls then, “Shop” for boys. No reason the classes couldn’t be for both.
Yes, and just think, in Ron DeStupids world, all the farmland will be replaced with concrete. He doesn’t like farming, or farmers. They don’t produce money for his pockets. Food, to him, is something we can get from other countries. No matter how poisonous it is.
We all need to look out for ourselves, and also each other. I think that extreme self-centeredsess is the root of most human suffering.
Now isn’t the time to ‘bury our heads in the sand’! We are not ostriches. We are human beings. We have to vote. We have to make ‘supermajorities’ in the House and Senate. We have to keep our Democratic president.
At 80, I fear that I might not live to see it.
At 89 I have the same fears, but am doing all I can to bring it about. Writing first get out the vote postcards today. Planning on at least 1000 by mid-October 2024.
I’ll join you! If anyone out there would like to write post cards to Dems reminding them to vote in state and national elections, go to www.postcardstovoters.com.
Great idea and something to live for. We cannot let our democracy die.
Barbara,
Would, that we humans, would actually think that each of us is equal to each other.
However, based on just my walk through life:
Lots of folks are happy to divide us into:
who is going to heaven and who is going to hell.
who is going to Ivy and who is not.
who is going to Texas A&M and who is going to Univ of Texas.
who is working and who is not.
who is on welfare and who is living on Daddy's money (wait, same thing?)
who is going fishing and who is going to work.
who owns a gun and who does not.
who votes Democrat and who votes Republican
who watches Fox News and who watches no TV at all.
who reads books and who uses twitter.
Of course, the above list is infinite if I keep going or ask you guys to add to it.
So, I don't think we are in any danger of thinking we are all "equal" anytime soon.
Humans naturally, for whatever reason, want to find reasons that each of us are SUPERIOR.
Do we actually think we are equal. Have to admit I have a problem with my MAGAt friends and relatives. Easy to consider them ignorant but most are not. Just found a division that appealed to them. Guess I have too.
Jeri,
It is OK. You are human. I think it is one of our evolved features.
Too human sometimes…
Perhaps we need to focus on celebrating our differences and thus discover our "equalness"!
Humans are one SPECIES, Homo sapiens. According to lots of reputable sources easy to find online Race is a sociological human construct first used or semi-defined in the 19th century when humans first had a glimpse of the reality and implications of biological evolution via Chas. Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, etc. It has some biological meaning when used for domesticated plants and animals (such as in farming and horticulture) but no scientific accuracy or depth when applied to humans.
I often think we should be teaching and emphasizing the idea that as a SPECIES we all originated from COMMON ancestors which might affect how people consider one another but I guess that’s too technical for people who view themselves as top dogs (not meaning to call out dogs).
The Brits began colonization of India in the mid 1700's. They treated people native to India as subhuman and turned them into servants and slaves.
Maybe they did not use the word "race" but Brits clearly felt superior because they were white.
Many Indians probably did as well since, India's Hindu religion is based on a hierarchy of holiness with light skinned people at the top of the hierarchy (caste system in India).
My guess? Neanderthals did not fare well when anatomically modern humans showed up in northern Europe not because Anatomically modern humans thought they were "equal".
Perhaps each human just has evolved a desperate need to feel superior to someone????
I can say it is the (very) rare person I meet that truly grants a feeling of equality to all comers.
Thanks for your update on my modest attempt at making a historical reference. As things look now I'm sure you're correct about the long long history of humans' using those ideas for personal gain no matter the terminology. OTOH and possibly related I found it interesting that 23&Me claims to detect a smidge of Neanderthal DNA in my genome. If true it means somehow we as a species continue to carry that legacy forward.
All living beings - homo sapiens included are related. We are all cousins. Would that we would treat every being with the respect of being part of the family.
I really appreciated the animation until the end when Aung San Suu Kyi, was held up as the icon of its manifesting. Sadly, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner and popular leader of Myanmar has fallen from grace because of her defence of the military, condemned at the International Court of Justice for their shameful brutality towards her nation's Muslim minority, the Rohyinga.
Loved the video-thank you for sharing the link. Aspirational and inspirational and timely-esp the last reminder!
Thank you for this, Red Thread!
Can’t wait to share it.
This Letter has me in tears. Tears of grief that America has not yet reached the goals so eloquently set forth, tears for those who fought and those who died to realize the dream, and tears for the conditions in play today that would deny all that sacrifice and effort.
Lots of work ahead to continue the march toward justice and equality for all. We will prevail! Happy, hopeful 4th to you all!
Kathe, I felt this sadness for America too. I wish I had your faith that things would work out. But this slow coup is working purposefully and relentlessly toward the atavistic goals of the leaders, and I'm not seeing any effective countermeasures. Biden is doing his part, using his power wisely and for the people as an exemplar of the better way. But it will take more than that. Will enough people wake up, will enough woke people vote?
Wishing everyone the best on Independence Day. Never give up.
Part of the work is to break through paralyzing discouragement, in ourselves and one another. Tyranny works had to seem inevitable:
"In a world that had been dominated by a small class of rich men for so long that most people simply accepted that they should be forever tied to their status at birth, a group of upstart legislators on the edges of a continent declared that no man was born better than any other."
That small class of the ultra-rich is not giving up. Neither are we.
Thanks, JL.
Today would be a great day to "no longer accept the things we cannot change; but to change the things we cannot accept." ~Angela Davis
Join Jessica Craven to Chop Wood/Carry Water today and every day:
https://chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com/p/chop-wood-carry-water-73?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
I, too, follow the amazing Jessica Craven. I must turn despair into action!! So thankful for her daily posts.
I'm thankful, too, Lee. It has changed my whole attitude about what it means to be engaged in "politics"!
Hear, hear! HCR gives us context, Jessica Craven gives us action items.
Well put, Alexandra!
Many people ARE doing their part, actually. You just need to know where to look. May I suggest starting with Jessica Craven’s Substack Chop Wood/Carry Water. Her daily action items tell you exactly what to say and to whom. She takes us by the hand and shows “we the people” how to also work “purposefully and relentlessly” toward our goals. Talk about effective countermeasures!! Then, to prove that our efforts and actions are not in vain, she periodically (usually every week) offers a list of political accomplishments made all across the country that is always uplifting and often astonishing in that it demonstrates progress that most of us would not be aware of otherwise.
Sad, and frustrating. Decades of effort and halting progress, yet sometimes it feels as though we're back in 1860 again.
Jude !... Spot ON !
When WILL MANKIND ,! ,
WAKE UP. !! ?
I, too, am in tears for the dream not fully realized! Yet in all my years on this earth, I never feared or doubted that America would not remain a democratic republic...until now! We are being bombarded on all fronts from the far-right who no longer believe in democracy and are actively working to destroy it to SCOTUS who are taking rights away! How do we fight back on all fronts? How, besides the obvious of being engaged, supporting like minded candidates, and voting, do we save this grand experiment? Some days I feel hopeful that we are making progress to reclaim the forward trejectuary I thought we were on but after a week like this one I am not so sure! How do we hold on to hope?
By changing my despair into action, I participate in daily calls+ via daily emails from Jessica Craven’s Chop Wood, Carry Water.
Follow the movements of money.
😘
Thank you, Carole! Heather's post touched me so last night for some reason! I usually am a "stay the course" kind of person but lately all the chaos and disppointments seem to be a lot to absorb! it is nice to be able to express them in a safe enviroment and know there are others who are in the battle! Happy 4th!
I am there too!
Back to you gentle sister.
Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. … Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerned citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
Since the 1980s, Republicans have argued that policies embraced by a majority of Americans to promote equality of opportunity actually infringe liberty by hampering businessmen's actions or taking their money through taxes. --Heather Cox Richardson
Until we get equality in education, we won't have an equal society. __Sonia Sotomayor
The test for whether or not you can hold a job should not be the arrangement of your chromosomes.
___Bella Abzug
Yup Fern and in sage brush and badlands small children heard those magnificent words and assumed they meant all men women and children. When I heard some were excluded years later as we grew up, I was astounded. Not one child in six could accept that mom was not the highest authority in Prairie County, Montana. We knew!
Well, this small child heard the words and knew they didn't mean women. It burned then and it burns still.
I was about 8 when I first heard (from my teacher) that the words “man” and “men” -- as in “all men are created equal” -- meant humankind, not just male human beings. She was my teacher, and I believed her, with the assumption she meant all people agreed with that definition. Took quite a while to realize that assumption was incorrect. Ready for making all necessary edits wherever they are needed to clear up any enduring confusion.
Thank you for sharing hopeful words today
Especially regarding education starting with preschool for all & schools funded not just from a tax base of where you live.
Thank you, Red Thread, for your link above: 'Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December – the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is the most translated document in the world, available in more than 500 languages. And it would not be the shining beacon of hope it is today without Eleanor Roosevelt. This short documentary chronicles her fight to make the Universal Declaration of Human Rights a reality for people around the world', and for your appreciation of Eleanor Roosevelt and Hansa Mehta on behalf of 'all human beings'.
Happy July 4th to all. Especially to those veterans who have fought for the concept that all men are created equal.
Thank you Susan, On Saturday, I re-watched the first 20 minutes of 'Saving Private Ryan ' When the doors of one of the landing craft were opened all the soldiers were shot dead with a high caliber machine gun at point blank range from a pillbox. The surf at the edge of Omaha Beach was all red. I am certain it was even more difficult on the real D-day.
Mu uncle landed at Omaha Beach and also was at the Battle of the Bulge; he never spoke of it. He decided against watching the movie, he said, “I’ve seen that movie before.”
Molly, your Dad's brother made the right decision as 'Private Ryan begins with a D-day Vet visiting the many graves at the Arlington-like Cemetery in France & breaks down.
My uncle didn’t survive the landing. That we have created memorials and that we visit them for all American fighting men and women in all the wars we’ve fought brings home the greatness that is the ongoing struggle of our spirit in being and becoming human rights advocates to the entire world. I went to the wall to touch the names. It broke my heart anew.
We should remember those who gave their today for our tomorrow.
Yes Molly. Nicely said. We gave an uncle to France and we gave another to Italy. The wounded in conflicts that followed WWII were not so grievously injured. It is self evident that we all respond.
I played in a couple bands (one concert, one marching) with a short in stature and funny as all get out with a WWII Veteran. As a 1st Lieutenant, he parachuted onto Omaha beach and was one of 3 survivors of his platoon.. Our marching band's end song for every performance was "Loony Tunes", and he would always end it with a long descending chromatic scale on his clarinet that sounded like laughter at the end of it. When infirmity led to his having to stop playing, I took that over....only playing it at the very lowest pitch I could on the sousaphone.
Reading Heather’s great letter this morning reminds us of the power of our founding principles and the ideals to which they call us live as we celebrate our independence today. Have fun, everyone...and smile, how lucky we are to be Americans.
Just what I needed to read tonight.
It reinvigorates the 4th.
Thank you, Heather, for understanding so deeply the struggle in which we are now engaged and for reiterating those principles we must now again muster—consciously—to live by. May you and Buddy have a glorious Maine 4th.
Corporate, Inc is a man now. Go figure. Created equal? Or created more than equal?
Corporate Inc. is a sociopath; According to Milton Friedman, Reagan's guru, "The only corporate social responsibility a company has is to maximize its profits." If you exchange to word "company" with "person", what kind of person have you got?
Reagan was funded by those who thought Greed is Good
Absolutely. And I am not well enough versed in history to know how much of his formula was his own think and he just the pitch man, even though he was genuinely and seemingly naively right wing. He seemed pretty out of it from his first days as president, long before his deteriorating mental state was revealed, and the press often commented on his confusion, but mostly gave him a pass (I recall one NYT article titled something like "What the President Know and When He Didn't Know It" that was less kind.
The phrase "Greed is good" came from a cautionary film about the evils of Wall St., but the right latched on to it, and made it a motto in the financial press. I dimly recall a one time hour long show on ABC defending the idea. They deliberately conflate aspiring to excel with predation. Yes, there is certainly such a thing as fair trade, a "square deal", and greater value to a superior product, just as there is a correlation between working energetically and reward, but that is far from the whole story. "Chicago School's" Milton Friedman, a Reagan advisor, crowed that the word "fair" appears nowhere in the Declaration or the Constitution. And yet the concept of justice is central to both, even appearing as as one of the keys of the Constitution's mission statement. He was just playing with words.
We teach our kids not to be greedy, but too often wink at greed and treachery when it suits our agenda, especially when we think of ourselves as the in-group and the others, the out-group.
Rupert Murdoch was one who went over and beyond, and got rewarded handsomely. Article in WaPo re Jan 1981 dinner in honor of Rupert. Per Jack Kemp “Rupert Murdoch used the editorial page, the front page, and every other page necessary to elect Ronald Reagan president. “ chump is not the only “president” that Rupert foisted on us. Just the two worst ones…
IIRC Reagan lubricated Rupert's American citizenship. Corrupt as hell.
And the ditching of the Fairness Doctrine, the biggest reward to Rupert…as well as giving him the ability to gobble up a bigger share of communication outlets.
There you have it in a nutshell dear Selina - 'more' equal; the very thing they accuse 'others' of wanting. Just like every other accusation that unholy alliance has accused 'others' of doing, it's because that's precisely what 'they' are doing. Think back over their many accusations for a bit and you'll see this is spot on accurate. Happy Independence Yearning Day !
“The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that is wrong with the world.” Dr. Paul Farmer.
We celebrate the Country’s freedom from England on the Fourth and another important pronouncement of freedom on the Second. The day the Civil Rights Act was signed. While the 14th Amendment was important, the CRA was, too, and sadly was required to reinforce/define the 14th. It took 200 years to do that.
Unlike the originalists (read 6 SCOTUS justices) I think they get it wrong every time. The Founders were in an era that was what it was. But they used expansive, inclusive, language to (I think) allow flexibility, for themselves and others. That was not a mistake. It is also now clear from a plethora of scholarly writings that the founding mothers were just as important to the formation of the Union as their partners were; perhaps more so in many ways. That the mores of the times left women and people of colour/ the enslaved out of the conversation I like to think was just anachronism.
If the Originalists are correct, then we would not recognize women as equal, people of colour as equal, LBGTQ as equal; and the right to bear arms would mean a flintlock musket/pistol (that nobody had/could afford)… So struggling to get into the brains of people who were just trying to create a manifesto of freedom from oppression is a fool’s errand 250 year’s on.
I’d like to think that those folks, if they could opine, would be as progressive and inclusive as possible if they were injected into the culture wars of today. Certainly that is how I read their “intent” at the time, and using what they had at their disposal; writing with sharpened goose-feather pens and burning tallow to keep them able to work after dark. By the People and for the People meant a lot to them. They chose those words carefully.
We celebrate our independence for a good reason. But we can’t let ourselves forget that by freeing ourselves from the oppressors doesn’t mean that all the oppressed are all free…
Not one person, scholar or otherwise has convinced me that the “Originalists” are correct or that their position has any merit in our Republic. The only constant is change. A good government, by and for the People, reflects and embraces that. If it doesn’t it will surely fall of it doesn’t embrace change. Nonetheless: happy 247th to us, damaged but still here.🥂
Authoritarians appear to believe (or want us to believe) that legitimate authority isssues from certain special people, not evidence and not democracy. Those who would be autocrats are especially be keen on that. "Originalists" seem to me to be maintaining that the authority of the Constitution is grounded in the persons who wrote it, not the the Enlightenment principles they refined and codified. Modern physicists still build from concepts elucidated by Galileo, Newton and Einstein, among many others, and to be sure, the three mentioned were "authorities" in there fields, even if Galileo was deprived of contemporary recognition. But what these authors bequeathed that is useful is principals that reestablish their merit fitted to the changing circumstances of each new generation.. Each new round of humans breathes it's life into the textual Constitutional recipe, and into the democratic process.
I have been wondering if some of the more humane Supreme Court Justices pointed out to the “originalists” that their justification for repealing abortion rights would also lead to Clarence and Amy being deprived of the right to vote and that Clarence could be convicted of miscegenation in Georgia.
Amy would not be on the Court nor would she have been able to become a lawyer.
My sympathies and admiration for the "more humane" justices. It must be dispiriting and yet vital to call out steam-rolling abuses of power. RBG must be spinning like a top. I don't know what John Paul Stevens was thinking. Yeah, he deserved a break, but it's been crystal clear for a long time what kind of person Trump was and is. His abdication was a patently bad move considering the enemy at the gate. Stevens was a Republican, but of the Eisenhower kind, not a fascist. He would have done his party a favor by denying MAGAs the opportunity to corrupt the court, and to badly besmirch it's legacy.
Well, I blew this one badly, and somehow crossed my memory wires between Stevens and Kennedy. Kennedy was a different kettle of fish, but still (as I peer back though the fog) a judge with some measure of honor to him. It is less surprising he caved to Trump, but still....
Authoritarianism (“patrimony“) wishes to establish a world order where “might equals right“. It’s pretty simple and it’s pretty fundamental, and it’s probably how a substantial portion of people have wished to dominate as long as people have existed. People are vulnerable, and people can be afraid, and it takes maturity and vision to establish cooperative and mutually beneficial ways of relating. Honoring our vulnerability creates a safe space in which to continue to forge new cooperative models.
Democracy is more nuanced and clearly difficult, and always requires a phenomenal amount of effort, but it’s such an exquisite alternative that it merits our ongoing work for so long as people exist on this land. It really does recall Martin Luther King‘s “beloved community“, and may it ever inspire our creativity, dedication in every and all circumstances, no matter what direction the country appears to be headed.
To tirelessly work to become more responsive and responsible and caring, and non-reactive is a way to honor our time on earth. And, of course, we all need to also, in that “tireless“ work, rest and recuperate and celebrate our lives and lives. Not a bad way to spend the Fourth of July!
I'll steal from G.K.Chesterton who was speaking of Christianity, but would apply to democracy, that democracy has not been tried and found wanting. It has bee tired a found difficult. That how Reagan got away with bashing it, but it is more than worth the effort, (here borrowing from Churchill) compared to all the other alternatives that have be tried from time to time.
Beautifully and most importantly well stated! Every day that we forget the constant of change botuh within and without, we lose something. Thank you, thank you.
"He (sic) who kisses the joy as it flies lives in eternity's sunrise." - Blake. Not to say forget the past or ignore our possible futures, but now is thinner than a razor's edge and time flows.
I loved Blake as a student, but do not remember these lovely lines. Thank you.
It's short:
Eternity
He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy
He who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity’s sunrise
It seems to me that Bette Midler popularized a related theme:
"It's the heart, afraid of breaking
That never learns to dance
It's the dream, afraid of waking
That never takes the chance
It's the one who won't be taken
Who cannot seem to give
And the soul, afraid of dying
That never learns to live"
100%🥂
These so called 'originalists' use sleight of hand Alan. They pick and choose words, and then twist meanings. My big takeaway from today's LFAA is that which our Dr. accentuated when she wrote, ".... pledged their “Lives, [their] Fortunes and [their] sacred Honor” to defend the idea of human equality." This nation was birthed by a blood oath among men who represented the peoples of their colonies, including of course Virginia. These most educated and wealthiest men of those days laid their lives, Fortunes, honor, and indeed their families and azzes on the line, knowing if they did less, none would follow, and they would all hang together if it all failed. There were those behind the Confederacy and those today who want to take that blood oath back, as though it were never a 'thing' they would swear to. They reveal souls with no honor.
Worse than traitors. Charlatans in robes/positions of power preserving a past but twisting it for themselves to maintain legitimacy. A house of cards I expect to see fall in my lifetime.👏🏽
Great comment, H. Alan...I concur!
Well said. The "Originalists" patently don't believe that women, people of color, LBGTQ are equal; and I'm sure they know full well that "bear arms" meant a flintlock musket/pistol. But I don't believe all of the original signers believed in equality, either.
The original signers were in the world of their time, sticking their necks out, quite literally. Whether they believed every word is not as important as that they were ready to die for a set of principles that would make the world of the moment a better place. That’s what President Biden and his cohorts are trying for. Not perfection, but better for everyone. American soft power is our greatest power and it is more an ideal than a reality.
Virginia, I take your points, but I don't buy the "that was the world at the time" argument. In every era, there are and were people who had a much more full understanding of equality than others, and fought for THAT equality. There were and are people who did some good while perpetrating worse evil. I believe it's crucial to make those distinctions and not let people off the hook. It matters.
You expect or hope for far more than I of humans. As long as parents beat children and children are deprived of learning what it takes to be a “good person,” or food to thrive, or warmth and fun, I do not believe all can live only by distant examples (heroes, words, etc.). Each of us needs a different degree of sustenance to reach full potential and fewer of us get it as children live in refugee camps, in poverty in America, in authoritarian regimes.
Rereading your text, not certain why you think I “let people off the hook. The signers were on the hook from the moment they signed and the document went out.
They chose their battles, as we all must. Perfection is the enemy of the good. Somebody said that. I agree
Yes, I do expect more of humans! I meant, "let people off the hook" for holding unacceptable views because of the times they lived in. My point is that there were plenty of people living at the same time DID understand that women and people of all races are equal and should have equal rights, and fought for those rights. And they deserve more credit than those who didn't.
Well, I wasn’t speaking for everyone at the time. And I agree with you that not everybody had that level of enlightenment, if I can call it that. But I do believe that the authors likely did understand what they were penning. nothing in this world has ever been free or easy throughout history, but I think the Constitution, in terms of moving the world forward, was a groundbreaking achievement. It is, nonetheless, the great experiment. My only point in celebrating our freedom was that we need to keep our eye on the prize and understand that change comes in fits and spurts; and as long as we’re working for it, and not against it, we will prevail.🙏🏼
What exactly is "equal justice under law", the phrase engraved on the SCOTUS building? I suggest that any easy answer is the mark of a fool. I think it is sometimes achievable but mostly aspirational, which is not to say that it isn't admirable when when we are doing the best we can manage. As in the sciences, we have to make decisions without the benefit (or trap of) certainty. The reality of dynamic and developing universe mean one size does not fit all, and yet our aim is an unbiased standard, thus the icon of the "blind" scales of justice. We don't insist that people in wheel chairs use public stairways. A body armor-piercing rifle, now on sale to the public, the SIG Sauer MCX-Spear https://www.businessinsider.com/gun-sold-to-civilians-sig-sauer-mcx-spear-2022-7?op=1 " 'It'll shoot through almost all of the bulletproof vests worn by law enforcement in the county right now,' Ryan Busse, a former firearms company executive and senior policy analyst with the Giffords Law Center, told the outlet.", a big stretch from the "Founder's" muskets. Oliver Wendell Holmes famously employed the analogy of "The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic..", and while Homes use of it to condemn opposition the the draft seems misapplied, (and was later reinterpreted) the notion that free speech is not absolute appears sound, though somehow the 2nd Amendment is applied more literally. As in the matter of free speech, one may be moved to err on the side of protecting certain human rights, but behavior becomes society's concern when it is causing or unacceptably risking substantial public harm, such as in DUI.
I have had some experience arguing against "originalists" and their misguided misunderstanding of the values enshrined in the U.S.A.'s founding documents. My response to HCR's post today may be of interest:
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-3-2023/comment/18093263
Hey, look at me. Nah
His writing is... not good
Report the troll
This is the most important point from today's LFAA:
But just as in the 1850s, we are now, once again, facing a rebellion against our founding principle, as a few people seek to reshape America into a nation in which certain people are better than others.
Reading this helped me realize that this is true. It's on all of us to win the upcoming elections.
That is one important point David, I agree. I also agree with you on > "It's on all of us to win the upcoming elections." Brava ! Under the post by H. Alan Kantrud, a few posts down from this, I'll share one of my takeaways.
It’s cyclical. We go through this crucible every 75 years. Will wi manage to wrest Democracy back from the reactionary bear trying to devour it? Jury is still out. Literally.
United States of America, not Divided States of America.
E Pluribus Unum
Happy 4th of July. Thank you!
It’s inspiring to keep these statements in mind today, even as we see how far we still are from equality in this nation. I used to believe we were getting closer all the time; now I sometimes wonder if we are heading in the wrong direction.
There's a herd of mavericks heading in the wrong direction. It's not all of you. Backs straight! take charge!
Absolutely, Anne-Louise!
Just too many of US have lost our way. Look at the obese and remember that fat is a disease. It’s not “nice” fact to bring in on Independence Day, but if it inspires anyone to think carefully about what he/she is eating, or to set an example to friends and family by eating a better diet, perhaps I may be forgiven.
What a bizarre and irrelevant comment to make. Are you concerned about your health? Perhaps you should eat more.
I grew up with vegetable gardens and two parents who were very conscious of keeping their appropriate weight, which then was basically “what you weighed in high school.” Observing how many overweight/obese older people were dying of Covid, I was not surprised to see a headline in the UCLA Health Letter “Fat is a Disease” and to read that it should be treated accordingly. Having seen what overweight has done to my daughter, I feel fortunate to be only 20 pounds above my high school weight. But I have never been sedentary nor eaten a typical American diet. At 89 I am doing Pilates classes twice a week and walking less than I should.
No doubt that’s your body type. My husband, in his early seventies, is also within 20 pounds of his high school weight. He eats anything he wants, including lots of ice cream and cookies.
He’s lucky. I cannot do that. Neither could my parents. My father (a true jokester) would come home on Friday evening if he had eaten lunch in cafes near his office instead of taking his bag lunch, and say immediately as he entered “Gotta lose five pounds this weekend” because away from a desk, gardening, hunting, fishing, dealing with chickens, and eating my mother’s cooking (she could fry a chicken in so little oil that there would be none left in the pan when the chicken was done) mostly vegetables from the garden and homemade breads, he could lose the pounds.
Wonderful efforts! I’m a Tufts alum myself.
Happiest 4th 🇺🇸🎇. We so need a “government of the people, by the people, for the people” all of them....
Yep, the phase absolutely nails it, but for some we really need to spell out A-L-L.
So appropriate at this time,we are honored by your wisdom! Thank you Heather!
Right on, Heather. Wexall need to be vigilant and stand up to anyone who tries to take back the equality of humans. A lot if this we can do by voting for those who value the worth of all. Thank you for reminding us of this.