"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."
When you think about it, our Declaration of Independence has an immense power behind it. The idea that all people, no matter race, gender, religion, creed, or doctrine can obtain liberty at all points in life is nothing short of amazing. For a government junkie, it seems that nothing evil can come from this statement. The idea alone that all men have a God given right to the most important things in life is invaluable to someone like me, but the idea is just that. It's an idea and not concrete in any way.
When the Founding Fathers (don't worry, I'll write a separate article for their foolishness) established this "truth," I'm sure they were only thinking in terms of rich White men and that's exactly what came out of it. White male privilege is not a myth-- it's completely real and it's evident in all aspects of life. White males are the majority just about everywhere; the workforce, education, and even religion. If you look around, especially in the south where I'm from, white masculinity dominates. When there is a dominating force, it only makes sense that that particular force be privy to some sort of privilege, right? That's the only thing that makes sense, especially in a country that was founded by dominating, rich, privileged, and undeniably white Founding Fathers with an agenda only for them and those who would be born in the future, like them.
If you aren't sure what "white privilege" is, or even if you deny the fact it exists, let me explain. Let's say you rob a gas station. You take lottery tickets and a few other things. The police arrive and you blame it on the much darker, maybe Native American, person standing next to you. That person goes to jail. You take the tickets home and you end up hitting the jackpot of, let's say $245 million. With this money, you create a thriving business. You then go into a place filled with, yet again, much darker, maybe African people, and you force them to work for this company. Your company explodes due to forced labor and that $245 million that wasn't yours to begin with does too. You then decide to "found" a place where only people who rob gas stations, steal lottery tickets, enslave people, and kill along the way can live. Of course, you have to create a set of rules for these people, and since they are your own, you angle the rules to favor them.
Do you get it now? White privilege? The magic behind the men we call our Founding Fathers? It's disgusting and often times unbearable, yet we see it play out in everyday life as if it's normal for this type of injustice to happen... even when our pledge of allegiance, which school children must say every day, promises "liberty and justice for all."
Normally, I end with a possible solution to the issues I write about, but we have been searching for a solution for 241 years. Presidents, first ladies, senators, representatives, legislators, judges and many more have been in power these last two hundred years, and yet nothing has changed. I am tired. I have exhausted myself and others with solutions. But the fact remains that the only way we can fix this patriarchal, systemically racist, xenophobic system is to completely dismantle and rebuild it. That is my solution for revolution. And I won't stop advocating until it's done.
