Flourishing Today

Would your rights count?

Those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it. Does this look familiar?

“[The subject was] the most important and divisive issue in 19th-century American politics and society…

Inspired by the language of the Declaration of Independence… many Americans—hoped that [it] could gradually be abolished in the United States.

Some became active and organized opponents [and] worked for its abolition nationwide. The states of New England, which had had the smallest populations… were the first to abolish it. Because of their calls for immediate action and an end to prejudice, abolitionists were the object of a great deal of criticism, ridicule, and even violence…becoming an active abolitionist required courage. Many had to face physical danger at the hands of a mob, but many more had to endure the disapproval of family and friends or the ridicule of neighbors.”

Or..

[that they are portrayed] as lascivious by nature is an enduring stereotype… often portrayed as innately promiscuous, even predatory.

…this and similar stereotypes [were used] to justify… In part, this was accomplished by arguing that [they] were subhumans: intellectually inferior, culturally stunted, morally underdeveloped, and animal-like sexually… racist and sexist ideologies [were used] to argue that they alone were civilized and rational, [these] others were barbaric and deserved to be subjugated.

How about:

…[they] are of this people then they are of the freemen, and a constituent part of this Commonwealth. . . . is a citizen of the United States and of the State in which [they] reside, in the constitutional and legal sense of the word citizen, is admitted by the learned judge. . .

..then, being a citizen, . . . “of this people and a constituent member of the sovereignty.” . . . therefore of the “freemen” contemplated by the Preamble to the Constitution of 1776. . . . The same synonymous and generic use of the words citizen, people, and freemen is continued throughout the Constitutions of 1776, 1790 and 1838. . . Any other construction would be in violation of established principles of law and of our National Constitution . . .

Article XIV of the United States Constitution, adopted July 20, 1868, declares that
Sec. 1. “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and of the State in which they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the Unites States. Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

. . .What, then, is it to be a citizen of the United States; and what are the privileges and immunities of citizenship? Are they not also the rights of citizenship? . . .then it cannot be denied nor abridged by any State or the interpretation of any State Constitution. If not therein included, it rests upon a broader and deeper basis.

If not a privilege, then it is a right, the birthright of citizenship. . . . It could not have originated in governments, for by its exercise they were created and continue to exist; neither did it spring from constitutions or laws, for it was the hand of that sovereignty by which they were made. It has its origins in the nature and constitution of humanity.

So, do you think your rights count? The first quoted material was about abolishing slavery and rights for non-white citizens. The second piece was about how bigoted propaganda was used to continue to support why we should still have slaves. After all, they weren’t considered human. The third piece is from The Argument of Carrie S. Burnham, as to why women should be allowed the right to vote.

Less than 100 years ago, chances are someone you know was considered sub-human, property, and/or not allowed to vote. Today, the same tactics and problems are still alive, and chances are – someone within 1 to 6 degrees of YOU isn’t allowed to marry the person they love.

When will we learn?