A Solution to American Inequality

The Declaration of Independence and The United States Constitution are two of the most iconic symbols of The United States of America. They are the core of what America is. The Declaration of Independence announced that we were a free and independent nation and defines our core philosophy while The Constitution lays down the supreme law of our land and how our Government was to be formed. Every Fourth of July, we celebrate the birth of our nation with barbecues and fireworks. When laws are passed that are incompatible with our Constitution, we take it to court to have that law repealed, declaring the law "Unconstitutional".

Yet, throughout our nation's history, we as individuals struggle to have our self evident truths and certain unalienable rights recognized. Throughout American history African Americans have had to fight twice for equality, and women have had to fight not only for their right to work, but to work in a harassment free environment for equal pay.

These struggles continue to this day with homosexuals, Latinos and the poor. They are constantly discriminated against and have to fight for their right to have an equal footing in this nation. Among these examples are:

-Defense of Marriage Act
-Don't Ask Don't Tell
-California's Proposition 8
-Arizona's sb1070
-US Supreme Court Decision of Citizens United v. FEC

All of these are laws designed to discriminate against certain groups and hide behind either legal or moral grounds that are incompatible with the philosophy of the Declaration of Independence. People fighting against these laws invoke it's famous words "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Yet it is often ignored.

The problem is that our founding document, The Declaration of Independence, is not a legal document. There are many court documents that address the issue, one quoted as such, "We have no jurisdiction over claims allegedly arising under the Declaration of Independence." rendering the argument powerless.

This must change.

The United States Constitution cannot abandon the principals of our self evident truths. Today, a corporation has more legal rights than an individual. The concept of this right is supposedly protected by The Constitution, yet with the recent oil spill and coal mining disaster, it's obvious that there is something fundamentally wrong with putting corporate rights above individual rights.

In light of this I suggest we work to add a new amendment to the United States Constitution: One that encompasses the ideas of the Declaration of Independence, that all people are created equal, and reinserts the individual's power over not only The Government, but the corporations who for years have used The Government to trample over the people.

It's up to us to keep the American Dream alive for all, let us do it for our future.

- An American