The Question of Liberty and Justice for All

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The Question of Liberty and Justice for All

“Liberty and justice for all” is a notion that is interwoven into the US Pledge of Allegiance, a decree that school children in America often participate in every day. Yet, is America providing liberty and justice for all?

The Meaning of Liberty and Justice for All

The Pledge of Allegiance was created in 1892, a time where liberty and justice for all did not hold the same definition. It is no secret that many of the most admired Founding Fathers had slaves and did not grant them the same liberties and freedoms of a white man. At the time of the creation of the Pledge of Allegiance, the idea of “for all” was never meant to mean everyone. 

Liberty, meaning the state of being free with opportunity (but not exempt from law), did not reflect in America for decades, and it is still up for debate if it is today; the same can be said for justice, the establishment of a rule of law, or equity. In this time in America, it is time to truly reflect on the setbacks and progress we have made on these concepts.

In 1964, the Civil Rights Act ended segregation and constituted the Equal Employment Opportunity Commision. This opened many doors for DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs that helped educate about racial bias and discrimination and employed hiring tests to assist in hiring employees based on skill and qualification while ruling out any bias on race. Further, DEI programs flourished through the 70’s and into present time by extending inclusion to all sexes, genders, religion, ethnic backgrounds, disabilities, etc. 

However, in recent times there has been a question on if DEI programs truly help working American people. Yet, these complaints have primarily come from white Americans, some associating with right-wing politicians and leaders. There have been claims of taking away opportunity for the white man, and misconceptions of diversity quotas that bar their opportunity at employment. 

Though it may feel to the white man that opportunity is being taken away, the larger picture is that opportunity is being given to individuals who have all the same skill and qualifications, yet had unfortunate previous systemic barriers to their dreams and aspirations. This concept is commonly not commonly understood, and how could it be for a person who has never had race and gender systematically used against them? 

Now is the time to consider empathy, although empathy should have always been in the picture. When certain situations that do not pertain to you occur, and harm others, there should always be a level of critical thinking to at least attempt to conceptualize the hardships being faced. There is a trend of thinking in a cause and effect manner in many situations, leading those to believe that hardships must have occurred due to a person’s error, however this thinking is not applicable in terms of identity. No one gets to choose how they were born, yet we all can make the choice to understand each others’ circumstances and identities and how those affect inherit privilege.