(#5266) Independence form Great Britain was just the beginning

      It has been 247 years since our American Declaration of Independence was announced to the British in 1776. By 1983 the Revolutionary War was officially ended. Our national constitution became operational in 1789. The bill of rights, also known as the first 10 Amendments to our Constitution, was ratified in 1791. As you can see a progression of events took place to bring about what we currently enjoy as our nation. Yet our nation has continued to flourish with more Amendments and immigration that has brought about what is referred to as the great melting pot society.
     What also lingers from the underbelly of our nation is the racism that was employed for centuries by slave owners well into the 19th century. Slavery was finally abolished through the 13th Amendment to our constitution in 1865. That should have been an end to a very disturbing and hateful practice. Yet it wasn't. State and local laws allowing for Jim crow practices to enact segregation began in 1887. So the short lived euphoria of an equal society among blacks and whites was quashed. Not until 1964-65 when the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act became law could black American descendants of slavery Start to feel a small relaxing of the effects of segregation.
     However this latest republican dominated supreme court has been busy dismantling key sections of the Voting Rights Act. Making it harder for blacks to vote has been a republican dream because republican policies are so detrimental to blacks that republicans know that blacks will never support them in elections so blocking their votes is how republicans plan to win elections. Instead of republicans tailoring their policies to be more racially inclusive they instead tailor the electorate by working to deny black and poor voters a say in our state and national policies. It is my belief that voting for democrats at every level of government is the only way our Independence from Britain is going to continue to flourish.