Little White Lies
The white lies America tells: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
This was cute—much like a reflexive “no” when your partner asks, “Do I look fat in this dress?” But in July 1776, it was evident that some were still considered only three-fifths of a human. Shackled and enslaved, Black people fought for freedom in an American Revolution that continued to separate its Black soldiers from its white ones like laundry.
“Bleach-stained tears fell as Black soldiers bled for a country that refused to see them as equals.”
There have always been two Americas. One is the land of "Make America Great Again," built on the myth of meritocracy, where bootstraps supposedly pave the way to prosperity, where white picket fences symbolize a dream hoisted high on a pole, waving proudly in the wind. Meanwhile, the rights of Black Americans have too often been suspended at half-staff.
White lie number two: “that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”
Did they omit “Christian” purposefully? Because isn’t this a “God-fearing Christian nation”? A nation that has wielded religion as both shield and sword, justifying oppression while preaching liberty. If these rights were truly unalienable, then why do laws continue to pass that undermine D.E.I. initiatives and social justice efforts? How does a nation built on the premise of equality reconcile with policies that erode the very foundation of justice?
The power has always resided with the people. The Declaration of Independence makes it clear: “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.”
A government that suppresses equity and justice does not uphold the American way. To truly honor the founding principles of this nation, we must recognize that patriotism is not blind allegiance—it is the willingness to challenge injustice, or else all of it, and I do mean all of it, are bold-face white lies here to placate the American people.
Uncomfortable and swollen in its little black dress, society will continue to stuff itself in shoes, and in diamonds on the arms of their patriarch to attend a ball that proudly proclaims America’s love right across the street from an unhoused person sleeping on a park’s bench.
“A coward will claim America is already great. The brave will declare that America cannot be great until we all are. And the weary—the tired? They will not waste words—they will act, knowing that change is never spoken into existence; it is forged through might, a call to action, an overthrow. ”
A Black Woman in search of the American dream.
