Letter: Our democracy is a perpetual work in progress
Because American democracy is a perpetual work in progress, there will be the occasional stoppage, and even setbacks. But if one were to trace civil rights achievements since the founding of the NAACP in 1909, the trajectorywould bend forward, not backward.
History reveals that over time, the egalitarian umbrella in American society expanded, as more groups of Americans were granted rights than at the time the U.S. Constitution was ratified.
African Americans have come the longest distance, however, because they had the most ground to makeup. No other group in American society was stripped of its humanity and consigned to the status of property. – slaves if you will – And after suffering through almost 250 years of that status, was forced to suffer through another 100 years as second class citizens in a racially segregated society.
Only relatively recently have African Americans become beneficiaries of the Bill of Rights, thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling interpreting the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Even so, these rights do not guarantee a level playing field, and African Americans are often held to a higher standard to access fame and fortune, as well as ordinary jobs.
The work to perfect American society is never ending, and like runners in a relay race, each generation — whether African American or white — is tasked with advancing the cause, then handing the task to the next generation. Each of us should live in a society that is better than the one in which our predecessors lived.
As this last week of Black History Month comes to a close and the names of African American heroes are placed on the shelf until next year, may we not permit the perfect to become the enemy of the good, nor forget that American democracy is a perpetual work in progress.
Whittington B. Johnson,
Miami
