The Meaning Of Equality Has Changed

Some of you may think that the picture above is rather blasphemous, since the men in it gave us this country and our Constitution. But it is the truth. When those men talked about equality, many of them considered that to be the equality of all white property-owners. They did not include slaves (who they considered to be only 3/5 of a person), or women (who weren't allowed to vote for until over a hundred years later), or poor people (who they believed didn't have a real stake in this country).

Fortunately, while they were far from perfect men, they did provide a way for this country to grow and change -- and it has certainly changed. And the meaning of equality has also changed. The modern meaning includes everyone -- even though we are still struggling to live up to that meaning legally. But we have made a lot of progress, and today we live in a freer America that is more equal than at any other time in our history.

I am grateful to those privileged white men -- but I am most grateful that they provided us with the means to change the reality they knew.