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Demonstrators Should Be Demanding the Realization of Our Declaration's Promise
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The killing of George Floyd and the resulting outrage from citizens have sparked a national discussion about justice and equality, or remaining inequality, in America.
As we have seen in the controversy surrounding NYT Magazine's "1619 Project," some argue that the only way to achieve justice and equality is to acknowledge the American founding as irredeemably unjust and racist.
America's two greatest warriors for civil rights, Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King, Jr., argued the opposite: not for the condemnation of an irredeemably unjust founding, but for a need to apply the principles set forth at the time of the founding in order to achieve justice and a level playing field for all.
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"I have said that the Declaration of Independence is the RINGBOLT to the chain of your nation’s destiny; so, indeed, I regard it. The principles contained in that instrument are saving principles. Stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost."
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“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men—yes, black men as well as white men—would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
—Martin Luther King, Jr., "I Have A Dream" Speech
August 28, 1963
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Achieving civil rights for the marginalized—today as much as in King and Douglass' times—is not to be found in denouncing or dismantling the Constitution, but in making real the principles of the Declaration:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
It is only by our people working toward this common vision that we can achieve true freedom and justice for all of us while building our nation stronger and better.
Our country is a work in progress, always striving toward that great vision—that each and every man and woman in our country through their own work and ingenuity has the same opportunities to the bounty America has to offer.
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These sentiments, so eloquently articulated by Douglass and King, are the principles Americans should really be marching for, not for the destruction of the system they aspired for all to share in. All Americans deserve equal treatment and equal protection under the law so that they may each fulfill their greatest potential.
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History can always teach us something about the present, but only if it remains a priority. Without knowledge of our predecessors' struggles, we have no basis to make important decisions about our country's future.
JMC supports those teachers who are championing education in America's history and its founding principles. Our growing network of more than 900 dedicated professors are making a difference on hundreds of campuses across the country. So far, they have taught more than one million students. Will you help us reach more?
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About the Jack Miller Center
The Jack Miller Center is a 501(c)(3) public charity with the mission to reinvigorate education in America's founding principles and history. We work to advance the teaching and study of America's history, its political and economic institutions, and the central principles, ideas and issues arising from the American and Western traditions—all of which continue to animate our national life.
We support professors and educators through programs, resources, fellowships and more to help them teach our nation's students.
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