We approach Jefferson with the sun at our backs, reflecting
off the Potomac. Wisps of wind drift through the illuminated and commanding
marble pillars. It is silent and there is an unmistakable power here.
Growing up, the Fourth of July was always my favorite
holiday. I loved the BBQing, swimming and fireworks, of course, but the real
reason I loved it so, was because I always felt a genuine pride and appreciation
of being American.
We are raised to think the United States in the best nation
in the world and I always subscribed to that belief. At UCSC – surrounded by an
intensely historically and socially aware community – my perspective was
shifted, but not upended. I was educated on the dirty underbelly of our history
and exposed to truths about the structure of our society and economy. I did not
know the extent of systemic disenfranchisement of black men in America, or the
fact that we rejected Jewish refugees at the outset of WWII. I did not realize
how close segregation actually was to our time or truly understand that the
2008 financial crisis was actually caused by Wall Street greed. I never really
learned about Japanese internment or the atrocities of the Trail of Tears. I
still thought Columbus discovered America. As much as getting a B.A. was about
earning a college degree, it was just as much about learning general American
history. Prior to higher education, I had been given the glossed over,
palatable version of American history. The one where we are the hero, the
visionary the superpower that always used its power for good.
The great irony here, is that I am still proud to be
American. What we are built on is
revolutionary and visionary and beautiful. The dirty underbelly of our history
is not America; it the effort of those who sought to destroy America. The
America that I am proud of and proud to be, is the one who has persevered
through the hate. Through the vitriolic nativism and ignorance. Through the
fear and apathy. Through the amnesia and cowardice. She has always been there
and it is remarkable that she is still fighting. America won the civil war,
ended segregation and has welcomed refugees since it’s inception. That is a legacy to be proud of.
In this current political field, the need for us to understand
our true history has never been more important.
Standing in the Jefferson memorial with tears in my eyes, I felt vindicated; my pride was valid. It is all there,
literally written in stone: unaltered wisdom, three hundred years old that is
still profoundly relevant today. Rhetoric that reads like a rebuttal to all
that has been espoused at Republican debates. Words that feel more prophetic
than as a static relic of our history.
We tend to treat the constitution and the words of our
Founding Father’s as ambiguous; approaching modern political issues with an
attitude of “if we only knew what our Founding Father’s would have wanted.” We
do. They said it, and it still applies. Do we need to institute a mandatory
field trip for members of congress to visit the Jefferson memorial?
In a room full of deeply philosophical and beautiful text,
perhaps the most salient excerpt of our time was his articulation of the need
for adapting law to be in accordance with natural progress:
"I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and
constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress
of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new
discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change,
with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace
with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which
fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of
their barbarous ancestors."
If that doesn’t sound applicable to gay rights, climate
change and economic policy, then perhaps you are too entrenched in your own
political stalemate to accept reality.
Standing in this grandiose marble room, I am deeply moved.
Sage words that should send shivers down your spine and put goosebumps on your
arms, for they are an inalienable and beautiful exhibition of our foundation.
If you are among those who want to “Make America Great
Again," remember that the inscription on the Statue of liberty reads:
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Our nation’s foundation is “progressive.” If cannot see
that, you are lost and trying to retrieve something that was never truly
American anyway.
