We the People…
Three rather simple words that comprise the preamble a profound and significant document.
Three simple words. In wedding vows, I Thee Wed. Upon taking an oath, I Solemnly Swear. Such significance and power in three words. While in the case of the Constitution of the United States, these three words precede the rest of the body of the work, they are also a promise, a pledge, a unique contract between the government of The People and the People who are both the body giving that government it’s powers and the arbiters of that government’s role both domestically and internationally.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
This short paragraph, those three words at the beginning…the sum of what government’s responsibility is, and thus, because we as individual citizens are collectively the government are also bound to these tenets.
I hear the coming arguments. It was written over and ratified over 225 years ago; how is it still relevant today? It incorporated language that benefited, and thus gave legitimacy, to slavery; how does that not make the Constitution something that institutionalized racism and marginalized any minorities? My answer is, Amendments. The ability and process to make changes and bring it in line with the social changes that “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility…promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty” that will occur as we grow and learn and gain more understanding of what Jefferson meant when he said that all mankind is created equally and endowed with the inalienable right of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Yes, I paraphrased Jefferson from the Declaration of Independence, and will note that while that document in itself is not subject to change, the ideas of equality and basic rights were not set in stone, but should adapt to the definitions as of the times, not to remain stuck in the archaic definition of Free, White, Male, over 21 years of age and an owner of property (real estate) being the only ones who haveEquality and the rights of Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness (PoH).
What does all of the above have to do with whatever, you ask? Well, I hinted to it in the last paragraph. Systemic racism. The fact that way too much ugliness and disparity exists towards any person of color, when they are as equal to any other individual on this planet, especially in this nation.
The ideals of what is America, and what she represents, the example we wish the world to see us set and follow, sadly, appear to fade further and further from what was set up as we move into the future? Granted it took approximately 75 years for slavery to end, and those amendments I talked about to ensure that skin color, and any previous history of involuntary servitude were not barriers to being a citizen, but it happened. At least in word. Same goes for women, nigh on a 130 years passed before they were recognized as equal, but it did happen. Another amendment, helped with that. Again, at least in word.
Yet, for all the steps forward, in the overt and legal sense to bring about and live the ideals of equality of all, covertly, nothing changed. With a wink and a nod, with a blind eye turned, nothing changed. Systems meant to care and protect all of us work best for the well-to-do white, and the provision of services and systems, their effectiveness, and the professionalism of the providers is influenced first by skin color, then socio-economic status, and then other factors that should have no bearing whatsoever upon how those services and systems are provided and in the way they are able to be accessed.
While in a perfect world, there would not be such divisions of others based on things that do not matter. Skin color should not matter on how any one is treated or upon how you treat someone else. Gender should not matter. Disability should not matter, because disability does not equal inability. Ideology, be it political, religious or philosophically, should not matter in how we treat others. That is the ideal; that is the American ideal; that is what our Constitution suggests how the government and the citizens would ideally work together to build, and grow and move into the future. Our reality takes stuttering steps to achieve that reality, and then seems to take giant, almost purposeful, leaps backwards.
In my opinion, we as a nation, we as a species, are regressing in our civilization, and dismissing our civility. We are returning to a time where tribalism is dominating how we interact with others, and our tribes are composed of very specific political and other ideological points. All are equal, so long as they think like me, everyone else is wrong, and therefore inferior. No! Liberty and PoH, two-thirds of the inalienable rights, dictate that I am as equal to anyone else, and I must interact with others, regardless of such differences, as individuals who are equal to me. I can freely express my opinions, my ideas, my beliefs, and others can listen and ponder upon them. Those others can disagree with me, we can exchange facts and ideas and discuss them to a point where one of us may be swayed to adopt this new information and adapt our opinions and beliefs, but there is no requirement for either of us to do so, and regardless of a change or not, we both retain our liberty and continue to have the opportunity to pursue happiness as we see fit.
What brought about all this opining upon my part, sharing my thoughts to hopefully generate things for you to think about. The death of another black man at the hands of a member of law enforcement. I am saddened by the fact that so many incidents occurred before this one to make me disgusted enough to speak out. I am disappointed in myself for not understanding how pervasive systemic racism is, and disgusted how that systemic racism was/is intertwined in the profession of law enforcement. Law Enforcement, policing, peace-keeping, however you wish to term it, is one of those systems we have in our nation that is devoted to several of the ideas expressed in the preamble of our Constitution; domestic tranquility, general welfare, justice, and security of liberty. It is a service that should be provided to every single person within our borders regardless of race, religion, gender, age, ethnicity, economic status, social class, disability, sexual orientation, political leanings. The ONLY thing that should influence how an individual’s interaction with the police goes, is whether or not that individual is actively attempting to harm the police officer. Knowing that it is difficult to not take such an assault personally, and needing to bring their adrenal responses under control, once that person is in custody, that provision of services must return to a status of working on equal footing. Further, once a situation in which an agent of the government has restricted the liberty of any person, there is an absolute duty of care for the arresting officer, and the agencies involved in the detaining of a person to provide for the health, welfare and security of the person in their custody until such time as that person is no longer detained.
Please understand, I am not asking anyone to worship The Constitution, nor any other document. They are very important guides. Just as the texts of a particular faith inform one in their beliefs of conscience, the US Constitution, as well as the constitutions of the individual states inform one of the roles and responsibilities of government, and the laws promulgated under those frameworks, inform us of the responsibilities we have in relation to the inherent rights we possess, not only as citizens of this nation and her separate states, but also to the ideals we espouse to the world.
I know I have probably wandered in thought here, so I hope you will have been able to follow my path and understand where I was trying to go, and what I wanted to impart. As always, I encourage questions, comments and civil debate/discourse upon that which I have pondered.
***Editorial Note: I am not an attorney. I am not a legal scholar. I am not a student of Constitutional Law. The thoughts expressed below are of one lay person’s interpretations of what this document says and of the Founder’s intentions and hopes for the future were in relation to the form of government and its role in the new nation. ***
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