Our nation was founded on the belief that all men were
created equal, certain inalienable rights.
However, many do not stop to think about what those written words meant
during the time that they were written. For
example, black men and women were not included in the “all men are created
equal” phrase. Not to mention
women were not included because they were considered inferior and therefore not
worth mentioning.
While many believe that the American Indians were savage,
ungodly beings that needed to be wiped out in order for a civilized and
prosperous nation to be built, this was not the actual truth.
The American Indians had built societies where there was no hunger
amongst their people. They had a political system of leadership, education, a
healthy respect for the land and they used what they needed and took no more.
When the settlers showed up, our native peoples were more than willing to
assist these new settlers in their settlements and help them through harsh
winters, teaching them how to farm and garden.
In Howard Zinn’s book, A People’s History of the
United States, he writes a much different picture than the storybook,
cleaned up version we all read about in grammar school.
We as a people, in order to better plan the future, need to know the
truth about our history, and where to avoid the mistakes in the past.
While we enslaved the black men that we brought over from
another continent by removing him from his culture and his families, we were
unable to do so with the American Indian, who was a much stronger, educated and
cohesive NATION of people to deal with. They
refused to be made slaves of, and fought back violently to preserve their land
and their way of life.
Our nation today is facing another radical change as views
from the world and from our own members. Will
be still be the leader in progression of civil rights and the forward journey of
equality in diversity, or are we heading to a darker time which will ultimately
allow the collapse of our nation in division of rich and poor, with no middle
ground.
We as a nation must begin to gather together as a nation,
and to insist that our elected leaders represent the people they so proudly like
to claim during election time. Americans
want jobs. Americans want wages
their families can live on. Americans
want adequate health care for everyone, trusted day care centers for their
children, and protection from predators and violent offenders.
The predators and violent offenders should not escape prosecution and
punishment simply because they are a powerful, wealth businessman, nor are a
multinational corporate power. As a
people and a nation, we have a right to a land that is free for all, just for
all, and opportunity for all. Not
just a select few who have powerful ties to powerful people through the use of
huge amounts of wealth.
© Arlene Golden
November 23, 2006
