We run the risk in our imperiled time of forgetting the struggles in earlier times. We remember easier days and in our memories we create a “good old days.” Most of us know then wasn’t perfect either, but in comparison, “my Lord, it was so much better, easier than now.” That’s true.
But it’s also true that the fight for American democracy has been ongoing from the beginning Obviously – in light of the Independence Mall removal of the stories of the people who were enslaved in the first President’s home in Philadelphia, from its earliest days, the idea of American democracy has been disputed and contested. Though the founders wanted to experiment with a democratic system in their new country, they were also deeply wary of ceding too much power to the people.
American history has repeatedly had to deal with attempts to deny people their rights, liberty, power, due. One can tell the often violent contest for American democracy in ways that our current Administration would call “disparaging” and try to outlaw (the telling of the truth). A more perfect union might have been the stated goal in the Preamble to the Constitution, but it’s turned out more elusive, even aspirational… or at least pretty bumpy and repeatedly bloody.
From just after the end of the Revolutionary War through the tumultuous debates over slavery that led to the Civil War… Through recurring cycles of civil rights progress and then reactionary backlash and sometimes loss of the hard-won progress, right down to the Capitol Riots in 2021 and beyond. …Even in the first year of Trump’s second term where so many of the Administration’s actions are designed to intimidate and silence opposition in his pursuit to expand his power.
With such a constant deluge of attacks on our rights — and on our communities — it can feel difficult to stay hopeful and engaged. But our American history shows that when people organize, protest, and demand justice, we can disrupt abuses of power, and build broad-based collective power in response.
I receive an ACLU newsletter that has a recurring series “Your Questions Answered on How to Push Back on Abuses of Power.” The piece below was written by Attiya Latif, the national ACLU’s senior digital organizer in response to the question: “What gives the ACLU hope in this moment — hope that we can defend our neighbors, communities, and the future of democracy?”
“I remember hearing someone at the ACLU of Georgia say that “we’re not new to this— we’re true to this.” That really stuck with me: the fact that we’ve been here before.
The ACLU has been in this fight for more than 100 years. That’s more than 100 years of resistance, resilience, and the relentless pursuit of justice. Our communities have faced attacks on civil liberties before, and we’ve never backed down. If we’ve made it this far, how can we give up now?
And the tradition of fighting for the civil rights of people goes back to the founding of our nation. It’s never not needed to happen.
I draw strength from those who came before: the ancestors and organizers who dedicated their lives to move us forward. Their sacrifices remind me that this fight is not new, and it’s not any one person’s burden to bear alone. On our organizing team, we’re grounded in the truth that it takes all of us. Thousands of us are in this struggle, standing shoulder to shoulder and refusing to be silenced.
As the child of immigrants, I carry a profound belief in hope—the same hope that led my parents to this country, dreaming of a better life for their children. To give up now would betray that belief. So I won’t. That’s what gives me hope: our history, our people, and the power of refusing to give up.”
Most Americans, except for our African American neighbors, are the descendents of immigrants who often came to the U.S. in hope of a better life for their children and their children’s children. And Lord knows African Americans have put up with a lot injury and hardship in American history in the hopes of fairness, respect and justice as equal citizens.
May we all find hope in the successful struggles that have brought progress, even now in the face of the current attempts to take back those advances and “put people back in the places.”
In faith and courage,
Michael
Rev. Michael Caine is the senior Pastor of the Old First Reformed UCC Church in Germantown Philadelphia