HERE'S TO THE FOURTH OF JULY

                        “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created

                        equal, they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable

                        Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

Two hundred and thirty-seven years ago on July 4^th, 1776, the Continental Congress approved The Declaration of Independence justifying actions already taken to separate from England and leading to The American Revolution. It was drafted by a committee that included Thomas Jefferson, the primary author of this document and was based on John Locke’s Natural Rights to justify The Glorious Revolution in England. The Constitution that followed written by Madison and others contained ideas not all the members of the Continental Congress found easy to accept thus it wouldn’t be ratified by all the states until 1791 when The Bill of Rights was added.

In spite of declaring all men are created equal and deserving of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, America did not live up to those ideals. Of course, in those days men did not mean women, indentured servants, slaves or Native Americans. We suffered a horrible bloody Civil War of Americans fighting Americans to free the slaves. But even free from ownership Jim Crow laws and prejudice kept the Blacks from realizing the full promise of the Declaration of Independence.

Others have struggled to get their just rights, too. The way we treated the Native Americans, is beyond belief for a country that was supposed to be living by the ideals Jefferson and other early framers of The Constitution and the Bill of Rights set forth. We exterminated Native Americans to provide land for our growing population and those remaining were forced to live on reservations often far from their native land. We were to be a country both tolerant and God-loving, but certainly didn’t live up to those standards.

Instead of living up to the ideals which the Statue of Liberty represents of a country welcoming all those coming to her shores with open arms, instead prejudice against newcomers to this country was quite common against those from middle-Europe, Africa and Asia. Even the Irish were reviled and looked down upon for many years. Much of that was economic driven since immigrants worked harder for smaller wages, which is similar today to Hispanics, the latest “class” of immigrants who suffer as did the Irish, Italians and Chinese, etc. before them.

My grandfather, an immigrant from Slovakia, worked for a mine and lived in the company town of Crabtree, Pa. He was called into the boss’s office once and reprimanded because his wife wasn’t buying enough at the company store. Instead, she was taking a bus to a nearby town to buy groceries for their large family where the groceries were cheaper. When many of these immigrants tried to form unions for decent working conditions in mines and mills the owners brought in union breakers. All they wanted were decent wages to support their families and safety in their work place – what had been promised them by the Constitution.

Our country suffered from state sponsored violence against workers before recognizing unions and enacting child labor laws, but eventually more and more unions won and the wages and working conditions of workers improved in many if not all work places. Even though unions brought up the wages in union free businesses as well, union members were often reviled as trouble makers wanting something they weren’t entitled to. I wonder how many see any connection between the demise of union membership today having something to do with the fact that there’s a widening gap between the rich and the poor and the middle-class losing ground in both wages and savings. The income disparity unions managed to correct have now grown larger than they were before the Great Depression. Some might see this gap as also because more and more businesses are sending jobs to other countries whose workers work for much less money, wages no worker in this country could live on.

And then there are the women. It took a century and a half before women were granted universal suffrage, and even longer to be admitted to all colleges and even though many women still don’t get paid comparable to men doing the same work, they are getting closer to that goal the Constitution set forth even though the framers didn’t consider women when they wrote it.

Others have struggled to realize their rights, too, like GLBT, who have cut across race and economic boundaries and are much nearer to getting all the rights of the Constitution, although recently the Supreme Court repealed critical parts of DOMA. They also gutted a critical safety mechanism in the Voter Rights Act because Congress refused to update it in more than thirty years to reflect current discrimination issues against the poor and elderly. The Senate passing an Immigration Bill even though the House is dragging its feet show signs that maybe our country will start embracing the principles of the Declaration of Independence more fully. After all, how many people even ten years ago would have believed we’d have an African American president?

                        Step by step, the longest march can still be won, can be won.

                        Many stones can form an arch, singly none, singly none.

                        Drops of water turn a mill, singly none, singly none.

                        And by union what we will, then we accomplish more.

The above words come from the song “Step by Step.” The words (1960) are by Pete Seeger based on the preamble to the 1863 constitution of the American Mineworkers’ Association. The tune was adapted from an Irish song about the 1840’s famine that led to the great wave of Irish emigration.

Today we enjoy the Fourth of July with parades, picnics and fireworks celebrating the birth of our nation, but just as a newborn child our country had much maturing and growth to do. And it’s not done yet until all benefit from the promises made in The Declaration of Independence. It’s up to us to work together to see that promise gets closer and closer to reaching all citizens.None of us are free until all of us are free. But in spite of our warts and problems which all countries have to some extent either greater, the same or lesser than ours, I'm still proud to be an American and get teary eyed when I hear "The Star Spangled Banner" even though I can never hit the high notes when I sing along.

In what ways can you or do you already support the Declaration of Independence?