Democracy Now

America has always defined itself through the story of its founding, one that shapes the ideas of democracy and freedom that are so heavily celebrated. But as I learn more about early American history and how it affects the nation today, I question how proud we should really be.

On July 4th, 1776, the Founding Fathers declared “all men are created equal” and that if their fundamental god given rights were being infringed upon, it was their duty to rebel and create a new nation that represented these principles. The authors of this document emphasized the inherent rights of man all while actively contradicting themselves. In an article written by Tom Kertscher, he examines one of the most famous paintings in American history, Declaration of Independence, in which over 70% of the men depicted were actively enslaving people. When creating the core values of the new nation’s identity, the founding fathers had a specific vision of what an “American” looked like and that idea was limited to White settlers. Anyone who did not fit this image was excluded from the values that they so strongly fought for. Thus, they saw no hypocrisy in the exploitation and atrocities subjected to African and Indigenous populations.

Since then, the United States has made significant progress when it comes to equal rights, but the process of getting to this point was met with heavy opposition. It seems like every step toward equality was met with an equal amount of pushback on a governmental level. In order to undo any advancement towards equality, lawmakers made continuous harmful legislative decisions with the goal of keeping Black Americans oppressed. After the Abolition of slavery in 1865, Black codes were created in an attempt to restrict Black Americans freedom. Quickly after those were repealed during the reconstruction era, Jim Crow laws were established with the goal of maintaining that same discriminatory structure. At the time, guides called “Green Books” were created to provide lists of safe and welcoming travel destinations in a country where racism was so entrenched in its experience and identity. To live as an African American in this time meant you were faced with threats just for existing in your skin, practices like this were a way to protect themselves from the violence and racist discrimination running rampant throught the country. Even when Jim Crow laws were outlawed by the Civil Rights Act, practices like redlining, mass incarceration, voter disenfranchisement, welfare reform, and countless other methods were used with the goal of perpetuating control and keeping minorities oppressed. A Pew research center report states “In 2021, the typical White household had 9.2 times as much wealth as the typical Black household”. This number is not coincidental, but a result of century-long discriminatory practices that continue to have an effect on people to this day.

The beauty of America’s founding values of democracy is its promise of popular sovereignty – they wanted to create a government for the people, by the people. But these ideals fall short when entire populations are met with predetermined disadvantages just based on the color of their skin. The systemic racism rooted in the bedrock of our country continues to hurt people economically, and interpersonally. In the year 2026, the country is still facing setbacks and even going backwards when it comes to securing equal rights. An article by the Guardian explains in detail how recent judicial decisions have threatened voters rights. The Voters Rights Act was created in order to protect Black Americans from discriminatory practices that came as a result of the 15th amendment. Now citizens are once again vulnerable to unequal voting rulings. Actions like these, done by people in current political power, makes me question how democratic our country really is if they are making decisions so blatantly against equal rights. 

The continued harm being done to minorities brings into question what this country needs in order to create true lasting equality. The institutions that enabled and justified the abuse that took place in the founding era continue to reflect into our society today because its origins are so deeply tied to the harm and exploitation of marginalized groups. As James Baldwin said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.” While exponentially better than it was 250 years ago, until this country truly confronts its history and the systems that it created and still upholds, I don’t think we can properly celebrate the freedom that America promises until that freedom is truly guaranteed for every single person.