As we find ourselves in Black History Month in February and Women’s History Month in March in the midst of a very disturbing national political crisis, I am questioning the notion of democracy as it has applied to the United States. A general dictionary definition of democracy is that it is a representative form of government by the majority of its members.
Most of us know that privileged white men were the founders, the framers and the primary demographic that benefited from the European invasion of what we now call the United States of America. Given what may very well be the most damaging genocide in the history of the world and given the size of the population of indigenous people versus the European settlers, this country was not founded on democratic principles.
Throw in women, African-Americans (free and enslaved) and poor, uneducated white men, and the trajectory to today makes sense. The government was far from representative of the people.
Sacred worship of the Constitution has been on display over and over again during the congressional impeachment hearings and the subsequent Senate trial. This unquestioned reverence reminds me of today’s Christian bible followers who believe in adhering to mythological patriarchal standards from 2,000 years ago as they justify chauvinistic, oppressive and bigoted behavior.
Christian colonialism was the systematic destruction of indigenous tribes revised as a noble cause furthered under the guise of manifest destiny. Greed overruled justice, and fictionalized propaganda was necessary as an added perversion of what actually took place.
Why do we romanticize the U.S. Constitution? Do we need a fairy tale of honor and freedom? Isn’t it transparent that freedom was never at play for most Americans?
The true story of our country includes moments of grace and pockets of progress, but it is built on a fantasy of leaders and common folk fighting against the tyranny of British control. The so-called founders were mostly interested in securing their economic interests as they justified their right to rule as free-thinking elite patriarchs. This was a repackaged royal regime complete with serfs, slaves and unmitigated killing and pilfering of any land or resources they desired.
Professor Tim Scott wrote an essay, “The Duplicitous U.S. Constitution: How an autocratic legal document became a sacred and incontestable scroll.” The title says it all, and the article is carefully researched. The line that strikes me the most is, “The founders constructed the U.S. Constitution to forever deter emancipatory strivings and collective interests that are inherent to egalitarian societies.”
No wonder the road to justice of any kind under this government is long, precarious or unreachable. Scott referenced historian Gary Nash’s research, noting that in 1770 Boston’s top 1% of the population owned 44% of the city’s wealth. In 2004, 1% of Americans controlled 42% of the total financial wealth. The similarity is striking.
As a young adult, Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States” awakened me to the historical propaganda I was fed in high school history classes. Learning that the Sedition Act was a violation of that sacred Constitution made me realize that the powers that be can contradict themselves in a sea of discrepancies without impunity.
Scott wrote about a reproductive rights and labor activist, Rose Pastor Stokes, who was given a 10-year prison sentence for simply writing in a local newspaper, “No government which is for the profiteers can also be for the people, and I am for the people, while the government is for the profiteers.” What a chilling indictment of the ethical flaws of capitalism.
As I write this, I am aware of the coexistence of progress and the insidious systematic oppression of capitalism. Zinn referred to the Constitution as “the most effective system of national control devised in modern times.” Spreading a myth that everyone has a fair chance to have a prosperous and happy life was brilliant and untrue, and the potential for it was only realized by killing off the original stewards of the land.
Is it right to be prosperous and happy as the perpetrators and bystanders of genocide and slavery? Simply put, lustful capitalism does not work without victims.
The strict constitutionalists in the courts are almost entirely the white male guard who, in their minds, are the rightful heirs of those elite founders. One may look at statistical information in the courts to see who still comes out ahead. White male rapists too often get light if any sentences, women who kill their abusers get long to life sentences, non-white drug users get thrown into prisons while white drug users need counseling, and people with money fare the best. Bias has been there from the beginning.
Can we find hope? When I watched the congressional impeachment hearings, the Democrats seemed to be a more diverse representation of the people than ever before. The Republicans not so much. This year, our country is either going to clamp down on its autocratic rule or we are going to peel more layers to own our history and to carve a path for a truer form of democracy.
Nothing frightens the white supremacist patriarchy and their collaborators more than this. They frantically stack the courts and spread divisive propaganda to keep everyone in line. This is not a new strategy, but it remains to be seen if it will work this time.
Wednesday may be the day when the Senate votes to exonerate the president. I do not believe he wins. I am looking at the long game, and I am on the team that will continue to call out those spineless, greedy monsters who support unethical leadership for what they perceive to be their own gain. Their heyday is behind them.
The U.S. Constitution is outdated and was flawed from the beginning. It is arrogant to believe we are the best country in the world in any way, shape or form, and the underbelly has surfaced. The jig is up.
Let’s roll up our sleeves and create a true democracy. It’s what Senate President Mitch McConnell and company call “socialism” and it seems to be working well in those Nordic countries where people are reported to be the happiest in the world. In 2019, the United States placed 108th out of 140. Hmm.
J.M. Sorrell is a social justice activist and trainer. She wants at least 100 more women elected in both Houses of Congress in 2020 — the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment.