On July 9, 1868, Americans changed the U.S. Constitution for the fourteenth time, adapting our foundational document to construct a new nation without systematic Black enslavement. In 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution had prohibited enslavement on the basis of race, but it did not prevent the establishment of a system in which Black Americans continued to be unequal. Backed by President Andrew Johnson, who had taken over the presidency after an actor had murdered President Abraham Lincoln, white southern Democrats had done their best to push their Black neighbors back into subservience. So long as southern states had abolished enslavement, repudiated Confederate debts, and nullified the ordinances of secession, Johnson was happy to readmit them to full standing in the Union, still led by the very men who had organized the Confederacy and made war on the United States.
And here we are today... (without the segregated lunch counters but instead the reality of today's almost exclusively black neighborhoods, towns, and cities). I wish I could format and boldface your closing paragraph! How inadvertently prescient Senator Ted Kennedy was.
"Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) recognized the importance of the Fourteenth Amendment to equality: “Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the Government, and the doors of the Federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is—and is often the only—protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy….”"
Dammit! Will there ever be a nation where leaders know/remember/understand the job they are hired to do: and that is to protect and uphold the benefit of the people they are hired to represent? The Bork justice sounds like what many of today's Justices, and so many Repubs, are trying bring in. Keep fighting and keep informing, HCR... please!
The Fourteenth Amendment, a fortress of freedom and equality for all, is a mere irritant for this Supreme Court majority. To our great peril, these justices will keep ruling as if it doesn’t exist.
All 6 of the “originalist” justices in SCOTUS believe in Robert Bork. They will, if allowed, recast America into what Senator Kennedy described as Bork’s America. There’s no time to waste: SCOTUS needs to be reformed to prevent a Borkian society.
The problem with Originalists is that they are stating an opinion of the Founding Fathers/Mother intents. The opinions do not equal truth or an understanding of the context they were in. The general principles they espoused were "liberal" of their time. They were children of the enlightenment. General principles evolve as society evolves. The power is in their generality. This is why the 14th amendment is so relevant for today. Thanks Heather for taking your weekend to illuminate us.
Today’s letter is a history lesson every person and court needs to know or remember: “ No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws,” Fourteenth Amendment. What did “any person” mean? American Indians and Women gained citizenship privileges and rights much later. The Civil War was not enough to fully address inequality, Racism and poverty. And this must also be recognized: “On June 2, 1924, President Calvin Coolidge signed into law the Indian Citizenship Act, which marked the end of a long debate and struggle, at a federal level, over full birthright citizenship for American Indians.” https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/on-this-day-in-1924-all-indians-made-united-states-citizens
Thank you for reminding us that the 14th Amendment is the Holy Writ for those of us who are progressive, inclusive, and fair minded patriotic Americans.
I notice that the mission statement of the Constitution does not appear to draw it's legitimating authority from "We the Original Authors of this Document...", as some would have us believe.
It’s so eery to be reminded of what was then and what is now. Almost a mirror image except that blacks and women have been gaining ground in spite of the muck dealt.
To go along with tonight’s HCR letter, I think it might be interesting to look at Southern Poverty Law Center’s site on the hate groups in our nation. It is a map that cites where they are and believe me, each state has them. Just put your state in and voila! You will see the insanity. www. splcenter.org. Select “Hate Map”.
The simple fact that the founders created the option to amend the Constitution should put the question of "originalism" in the trash bin where it belongs. It's an organic document, not carved into stone.
Ken Burns has said that the overriding theme of his documentaries is race, the constant struggle between forces to realize true equality among all citizens. On paper this is supposed to exist, but state legislatures, through gerrymandering and voter suppression, have prevented this dream from becoming a reality. So the question must be asked, why and what are extreme republicans afraid of? The answer, of course, is the fear of losing power. (This could also be said of abortion, despite religious protestations.) And their fight against teaching our children historical truths also reflects this fear. Those who refuse to study and teach these truths are condemned to repeat them. The main issues in today's world are not political; they are psychological.
And we're back at the point of Bork and Dred Scott again, with this rogue collection of graduates of law schools who never learned the meaning of the law while they stole oxygen for three years from those who were determined to learn the meaning of the law and apply it.
And yet the 14th Amendment notwithstanding, one man's efforts to make the Anacostia Swimmable Again finally bears fruit for this river that most dismissed as irretrievably dirty. "Gasaway is one of the grand captains of one of the country’s oldest African American yacht club(s), the Seafarers — 'one of the oldest and most influential champions for restoration of the Anacostia River,' said Chris Williams, the president and chief executive of the Anacostia Watershed Society. 'They were speaking up for the river back when almost no one else was and have been on the front lines ever since.' They began — as so many successful Black institutions did — because of bigotry. The Whites-only clubs of D.C. didn’t allow a Black man to launch his boat when Lewis T. Green, a World War I veteran, built his own and went looking for a place to launch it, said Tony Ford, the current commodore of the Seafarers."
Then, there's this "War of Words" between South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and Ben and Jerry's over who really owns the land on which Mount Rushmore "stands." Having received this news from the Lakota People's Law Project, all I can say is eat more Ben and Jerry's ice cream!
I still don't understand why the Fourteenth Amendment, which referred to "all persons born or naturalised" somehow managed to exclude women from voting rights.
Read NYT Adam Liptak “In Her First Term, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson ‘Came to Play’. She has a new definition of “originalism.”. To quote “During her confirmation hearings, to the surprise of some, Justice Jackson declared herself an originalist, meaning, she explained, that she interprets the Constitution based on how it was understood at the time it was adopted. “I look at the text to determine what it meant to those who drafted it,” she said. But Justice Jackson’s originalism has an unmistakably progressive orientation, one that takes account of not only the original Constitution but also the three transformative amendments adopted in the wake of the Civil War.
And here we are today... (without the segregated lunch counters but instead the reality of today's almost exclusively black neighborhoods, towns, and cities). I wish I could format and boldface your closing paragraph! How inadvertently prescient Senator Ted Kennedy was.
"Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) recognized the importance of the Fourteenth Amendment to equality: “Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the Government, and the doors of the Federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is—and is often the only—protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy….”"
Dammit! Will there ever be a nation where leaders know/remember/understand the job they are hired to do: and that is to protect and uphold the benefit of the people they are hired to represent? The Bork justice sounds like what many of today's Justices, and so many Repubs, are trying bring in. Keep fighting and keep informing, HCR... please!
The Fourteenth Amendment, a fortress of freedom and equality for all, is a mere irritant for this Supreme Court majority. To our great peril, these justices will keep ruling as if it doesn’t exist.
All 6 of the “originalist” justices in SCOTUS believe in Robert Bork. They will, if allowed, recast America into what Senator Kennedy described as Bork’s America. There’s no time to waste: SCOTUS needs to be reformed to prevent a Borkian society.
The problem with Originalists is that they are stating an opinion of the Founding Fathers/Mother intents. The opinions do not equal truth or an understanding of the context they were in. The general principles they espoused were "liberal" of their time. They were children of the enlightenment. General principles evolve as society evolves. The power is in their generality. This is why the 14th amendment is so relevant for today. Thanks Heather for taking your weekend to illuminate us.
Today’s letter is a history lesson every person and court needs to know or remember: “ No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws,” Fourteenth Amendment. What did “any person” mean? American Indians and Women gained citizenship privileges and rights much later. The Civil War was not enough to fully address inequality, Racism and poverty. And this must also be recognized: “On June 2, 1924, President Calvin Coolidge signed into law the Indian Citizenship Act, which marked the end of a long debate and struggle, at a federal level, over full birthright citizenship for American Indians.” https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/on-this-day-in-1924-all-indians-made-united-states-citizens
And Women’s right to vote, June 4, 1919, the 19th Amendment. https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/19th-amendment#:~
Thank you for reminding us that the 14th Amendment is the Holy Writ for those of us who are progressive, inclusive, and fair minded patriotic Americans.
I notice that the mission statement of the Constitution does not appear to draw it's legitimating authority from "We the Original Authors of this Document...", as some would have us believe.
It’s so eery to be reminded of what was then and what is now. Almost a mirror image except that blacks and women have been gaining ground in spite of the muck dealt.
To go along with tonight’s HCR letter, I think it might be interesting to look at Southern Poverty Law Center’s site on the hate groups in our nation. It is a map that cites where they are and believe me, each state has them. Just put your state in and voila! You will see the insanity. www. splcenter.org. Select “Hate Map”.
The simple fact that the founders created the option to amend the Constitution should put the question of "originalism" in the trash bin where it belongs. It's an organic document, not carved into stone.
Total unmasking. The clarity of this Letter leaves nothing hidden or disguised.
Ken Burns has said that the overriding theme of his documentaries is race, the constant struggle between forces to realize true equality among all citizens. On paper this is supposed to exist, but state legislatures, through gerrymandering and voter suppression, have prevented this dream from becoming a reality. So the question must be asked, why and what are extreme republicans afraid of? The answer, of course, is the fear of losing power. (This could also be said of abortion, despite religious protestations.) And their fight against teaching our children historical truths also reflects this fear. Those who refuse to study and teach these truths are condemned to repeat them. The main issues in today's world are not political; they are psychological.
And we're back at the point of Bork and Dred Scott again, with this rogue collection of graduates of law schools who never learned the meaning of the law while they stole oxygen for three years from those who were determined to learn the meaning of the law and apply it.
And yet the 14th Amendment notwithstanding, one man's efforts to make the Anacostia Swimmable Again finally bears fruit for this river that most dismissed as irretrievably dirty. "Gasaway is one of the grand captains of one of the country’s oldest African American yacht club(s), the Seafarers — 'one of the oldest and most influential champions for restoration of the Anacostia River,' said Chris Williams, the president and chief executive of the Anacostia Watershed Society. 'They were speaking up for the river back when almost no one else was and have been on the front lines ever since.' They began — as so many successful Black institutions did — because of bigotry. The Whites-only clubs of D.C. didn’t allow a Black man to launch his boat when Lewis T. Green, a World War I veteran, built his own and went looking for a place to launch it, said Tony Ford, the current commodore of the Seafarers."
(Gifted) https://wapo.st/3rjrLtJ
Then, there's this "War of Words" between South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and Ben and Jerry's over who really owns the land on which Mount Rushmore "stands." Having received this news from the Lakota People's Law Project, all I can say is eat more Ben and Jerry's ice cream!
https://www.benjerry.com/whats-new/2023/07/stolen-indigenous-land?
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4083532-noem-hits-back-at-ben-jerrys-over-stolen-mount-rushmore-message/?emci=ada8009e-e51c-ee11-a9bb-00224832eb73&emdi=bb4e3e7d-9f1d-ee11-a9bb-00224832eb73&ceid=9906079
I still don't understand why the Fourteenth Amendment, which referred to "all persons born or naturalised" somehow managed to exclude women from voting rights.
Read NYT Adam Liptak “In Her First Term, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson ‘Came to Play’. She has a new definition of “originalism.”. To quote “During her confirmation hearings, to the surprise of some, Justice Jackson declared herself an originalist, meaning, she explained, that she interprets the Constitution based on how it was understood at the time it was adopted. “I look at the text to determine what it meant to those who drafted it,” she said. But Justice Jackson’s originalism has an unmistakably progressive orientation, one that takes account of not only the original Constitution but also the three transformative amendments adopted in the wake of the Civil War.