The goal is justice for all

For our nation to heal, we need to work hard and long toward justice for all, living up to the words of our self-evident truths 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.”

Of course, even as these words from our Declaration of Independence were being written, we were not living up to our promise. Women could not vote; slavery was prevalent, even among the founders of the republic and the author of the Declaration.

In the next century, a civil war was fought over slavery, with President Abraham Lincoln in his convention speech declaring no nation can survive, half-free and half-slave. He wrote and entitled his speech, “A House Divided.” Strange that today we seem a nation still divided with a President unwilling or unable to bring us together, “with liberty and justice for all’ as we pledge.

I came through the Sixties, perhaps survived might be a better word. I was a graduate student in those days, working with students during times of protesting a war and racial injustice. It was a hard time — riots, civil rights workers slain, the nation bruised by political and social conflicts. A few battles were won, culminating in the passage of a voting rights law that today is being unraveled with attempts to limit voting by mail or redistricting political districts.

Perhaps my past involvement in civil rights has made it more difficult to see a turn backwards these days, with attempts to suppress votes, still more emphasis on law and order than justice for all, still the loss of precious lives.

When someone asks me about my involvement in the civil rights movement, I often don’t say much. I was simply a participant in the movement, not at the front of the line. I did my part as best I could. At least I was not an “innocent bystander,” another of the moderate crowd Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. often lamented were far more difficult to deal with than outright racists.

I’ve been thinking a lot these past few days about what can be done to move toward equal rights and opportunities for all. I have two suggestions, one modest and the other transformative.

First, personally, one needs to stand up for racial and economic justice wherever one can. Don’t let racial slurs go without a response. Seek to promote opportunities for those who have been left out. One voice may seem small, but when joined with others can move even the most oppressive barriers.

Second, there needs to be a major effort not unlike the Marshall Plan after the Second World War to help countries rebuild. This plan, also known as the European Recovery Program, was a U.S. program providing aid to Western Europe following the devastation of World War II. It was enacted in 1948 and provided more than $15 billion to help finance rebuilding efforts.

Imagine a new domestic American Recovery Plan to help rebuild our infrastructures, repair urban centers, provide free education to students in need, and other projects?

It is better to walk toward justice, which is love in action, than drown in hate, which only divides and brings on more suffering.

Of course, even as these words from our Declaration of Independence were being written, we were not living up to our promise. Women could not vote; slavery was prevalent, even among the founders of the republic and the author of the Declaration.