By Joshua Weigert
July 3rd, 2020
For the past several days, there has been much talk about “canceling” the 4th of July. The idea behind canceling Independence Day is not a surprise: America is a terrible, awful, no good place. The reasons for this canceling are equally not surprising: Racism towards African-Americans, Native Indians, and general anti-LGBTQAAIIPEIEIOAT&T sentiments.
Yes, the history of America was not always great and, at times, profoundly evil. Slavery and Jim Crow laws are examples of how systemic racism and bigotry were able to run rampant. However, this does not mean that America, the American Constitution, or the Declaration of Independence, is rooted in racism and/or evil. Few more profound words have ever been written than “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.”
THIS is what America was founded on. THIS is what America strives towards. THIS is also what leftists are trying to destroy.
Earlier this week, the official Democrat Party twitter likened Mount Rushmore to a symbol of white supremacy.
The tweet linked an article that parroted a view that the American monument was a symbol of racism. The tweet also lambasted the monument by claiming it was on land stolen from tribal communities.
The mainstream media have echoed the Democrat Party and are pushing a narrative that America is genuinely and foundationally racist and evil. On the same day, the New York Times published an article with a tweet that read, “Mount Rushmore was built on land that belonged to the Lakota tribe and sculpted by a man who had strong bonds with the Ku Klux Klan. It features the faces of 2 U.S. presidents who were slaveholders.”
The Constitution grants both the Democrat Party and the New York Times the freedom to criticize America. The values and guarantees embedded in the Constitution create the fertile ground for the success of both organizations like the New York Times and the career politicians in the Democrat Party.
Singer and songwriter Pharrell Williams also came out this week mildly criticizing the 4th of July. Pharrell Williams is roughly worth $150 million. All of Williams’ success and monetary worth is a result of America and the ideals that intertwine our great country.
The radical left is rejecting the foundational principles of America. The extreme left only sees the disparity of outcomes of various groups and points to a flawed system as the culprit. Yes, all men are created equal. But, this does not mean that all men will have an identical outcome. This point is where the radical left is confused. Pharrell Williams and I are created equal. However, we do not have comparable singing skills. In this way, we do not have a similar outcome. Or, let’s take Lebron James’ jump shot and compare it with my own. We’re both created equally, but have unequal outcomes.
This is the fundamental difference between conservatism and leftism. Conservatives look at America and see the possibilities and the freedoms it grants and allows. Leftism sees inequality of outcome and jumps to the conclusion that America should not be celebrated.
Fredrick Douglass, one of the most famous abolitionists in history, was a former slave turned writer, speaker, and statesman. Contrary to many abolitionists in his day who saw the Constitution as a document supporting slavery, Douglass saw it as a “glorious liberty document.” Douglass understood the Declaration of Independence as a charter of “saving principles.” Douglass believed the Constitution enshrined the principles outlined in the Declaration of Independence, where “all men are created equal” and born with “unalienable Rights.” Douglass went further and looked at the language used in the Constitution and said that “it will be found to contain principles and purposes, entirely hostile to the existence of slavery.”
Douglass recognized that the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution did not, at the time, apply to women and African-Americans. However, he knew that these documents could and should apply to these groups. He saw potential in the documents and found it to be beautiful.
Today, America is the free-est most prosperous nation in the world. Americans have fought and died for freedom in Europe and around the world. Americans are the most charitable people in the world. There is no greater place for opportunity than the United States of America. This is all as a result of the principles and ideals set forward by the Founding Fathers in both the Declaration of Independence, where all men are created equal and the Constitution, which enriches our Rights as American citizens.
What did Fredrick Douglass see in the Founding Fathers, The Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution that modern-day leftists can’t? How could a former African-American slave understand the potential and beauty in the founding of America, but the media and the Democrat Party can not?
As I write this we see a push from leftists to re-segregate areas for “black safe spaces.” We see a push for monetary reparations to African-Americans who were not slaves, from white people who were not slave-owners. We see leftist groups like BLM and Antifa riot and use violence to intimidate. They claim that white people as a race need to repair and fix the damages done by their kin. These leftists rejecting the foundation of America, where all men are created equal, is not progression, its regression.
In the words of the Spanish philosopher George Santayana, “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Happy Independence Day, America!
Sources:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/15/the-prophetic-pragmatism-of-frederick-douglass
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