Celebrating (and working for) independence
Let’s celebrate independence this week by doubling down on our commitment to making the promises of this country’s founding true and applicable to all.
My thoughts this weekend as we reel from Supreme Court decisions that are inexplicable in terms of law and precedent:
We look forward to Independence Day, a celebration not only of our country rejecting its status as a colony of England, but also of constructing a governance system independent of old ideas. Imperfectly and with their own cultural and social blinders, the founders declared independence from political power structures based on birth status. They declared independence from the whims of hereditary leaders and insisted that governance must be based on the consent of the governed.
This court once again showed its willingness to reject progress toward resolving the issues created by the limits of the founders. Last year, it rejected federal protection of the right of people who can become pregnant to have a full range of reproductive care, decided upon by them and their health care providers. This year, it rejected federal protection of the right of people born outside the racially-biased legacy system to have a fair chance at admission to elite colleges. It rejected the power of the federal government to follow its own laws and regulations to forgive student loan debt. And it supported business owners in determining who they will serve based on the perceived identities of potential customers.
For more details on these decisions, check out the pieces from legal scholar Joyce Vance and historian Heather Cox Richardson (links below the photo).
As we look toward celebrating independence from a racially and class-biased governance system (monarchy), and a declaration that the government is accountable to all whom it governs, the highest court in the land made decisions that move us back toward race and class based hierarchies. One bright spot: earlier in the week, the court rejected the claim that state legislatures could ignore their own state constitutions when implementing federal elections. (I wish I could be confident this decision was more about protecting the rule of law and less about protecting the power of the courts, but with this SCOTUS you just cannot tell.)
Those of us who believe in the 14th Amendment they way gun activists believe in the 2nd know we have our work cut out for us. Equal protection under the law must be advanced, not retreated. Religiosity cannot be an excuse for discrimination (review the history of excuses for segregation). So called “color-blindness” cannot be a cover story for ongoing privileging of one group. (If you believe that the definition of “merit” prior to affirmative action was somehow magically not racially biased, and that it will not be again after affirmative action, let’s talk.)
Let’s celebrate independence this week by doubling down on our commitment to making the promises of this country’s founding true and applicable to all.
Be safe and well.