By Dale Hummel
We hold
these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. These words
are immortalized in our Declaration of Independence by our founding fathers. I
believe, at the time the document was written, these words were meant to be
taken figuratively even though women and black people were not treated equally.
Today, however, our country has matured and grown into a country of tolerance,
and acceptance. Today anyone can do most anything they wish and be whoever or
whatever they want. That is not necessary a bad thing, except when what they want
takes rights from someone else or when someone’s rights seem to be more
important than others.
Today it
appears as though those who have fought in the past for equality are still
fighting. It seems as though the mindset now is the old adage of “too much is
never enough”. “Civil rights” groups seem to have the idea that unless they get
everything they want, and more, they are being discriminated against and they
will either protest or sue to get what they want. To hell whether it is fair to
anyone else. This has happened today, right under our noses.
As I
recall, in the early-to-mid 90s there was a rash of law suits going on in
relation to someone’s “civil rights” being “violated”. On November 21, 1991, Congress enacted
the Civil Rights Act of 1991. This seemed to open the doors for
everyone and their third cousin twice removed to sue someone it they feel their
“rights” were violated. This resulted in a wave of P.C. (political correctness)
talk. It seemed everyone, mainly middle-aged men, were afraid to say anything
for fear that someone would sue them for something they may or may not have
said or did. This same consensus still exists today, even though the mentality
of the average middle-age white guy has become much more accepted in the alternative
lifestyles.
In its
day, groups like the NAACP, (National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People), NOW (National Organization for Women) and others performed
important functions that were necessary for the equal treatment of the American
citizen. Unfortunately, these groups have grossly out grown their usefulness.
There is even a group called the Congressional Black Caucus. There are
congressional caucuses for Asians and Latinos but, strangely enough, there is
no Congressional White Caucus. It this because if it were white it would be
racist? The inequalities don’t end with race, people of faith, and those with
conservative values also suffer from intolerance and prejudices.
Liberals
and atheists seem to have a problem with people of faith exercising their 1st
Amendment rights of religion. Weather it is a Christian bakery being forced by
a bogus law to produce products that is against their religion, or the use of
the ACLU(American Civil Liberties Union) to keep objects of faith off public
grounds or prayer in schools. Even though our country was based on
Christianity, too many seem to think that since they don’t choose to worship,
or don’t approve of objects of faith in public, no one should see them.
I consider
it fascinating, yet disturbing that a decision which is made by the people of
Oregon that differs the liberal mind set they will warrant a call to a lawyer
to have the ACLU to have it removed or changed, while those with the
conservative mind set will actually petition to put the idea on the ballot to
have it changed. But as we have seen, that doesn’t always work in Oregon.
According to www.ncsl.org,
Oregonians voted in 2004 to define marriage between on man and one woman,
however, gay Judge Michael McShane
“ruled” that the people’s decision was unconstitutional, and he struck down the
decision of the people. Seems a little unfair, doesn’t it? So much for equality.
One of the
biggest forms of inequality today seem to deal with race, usually between black
and white. It puzzles me that when O.J. Simpson was acquitted and Michael
Jackson was ruled innocent, we didn’t see whites, or any other race looting or
destroying property. However, when the Michael Brown verdict was announced,
Ferguson, Missouri burned in the name of race. From the videos I’ve seen, most
of the protesters were black. For a group focusing on race, they were foolish
enough to even burn the businesses owned by blacks. If a black cop shot and
killed a white teenager do you think it would attract national attention?
The
biggest perpetrators in today’s “race war” are Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.
They made sure they were involved in the Travon Martin Shooting, and now they
put themselves in the middle of the Mike Brown shooting. It is sad that the
young Mr. Martin and Mr. Brown chose the life that would end in an early death,
but what is even sadder is the people who choose to support racism to “honor”
their death. Jackson and Sharpton should be ashamed of themselves to support
such destruction and pain in a bad situation, and likewise, anyone who supports
these two race-baiters should also be ashamed. Just days before the verdict,
Police Officer Darren Wilson, who defended himself against Mike Brown, resigned
from the police force in Ferguson, Missouri. Mr. Wilson accredited the
resignation to avoid putting “the residents and police officers of the
City of Ferguson at risk” according to www.youngcons.com.
The race baiters, including Brown’s parents, are only happy with legal
decisions if they are in their favor.
We all want to be treated equally, unfortunately, we look at
each other through the eyes of our own experience and prejudice. Even those who
claim to be open to acceptance are not as open minded as they seem. If you
asked a member of the liberal community what they thought of the Tea Party I’m
sure it would be far less that favorable, and that would be considered
acceptable, but if a Tea Party follower has a less than favorable view of
liberals then he or she would be labeled a bigot, homophobe, racist, or a
hater. Where is the equality there? We like to think of ourselves as
open-minded and free from “hate”, but are we. From what I’ve seen in Oregon,
Ferguson, Missouri, and all over the country, we are far from being “equal” and
open towards others.
dkhummel.com, dkhummel.blogspot.com, twitter.com/dkhummel
