Historian Jon Meacham Says We Must Save The Soul Of U.S.

One of the more interesting speeches at the Democratic National Convention was given by presidential historian Jon Meacham (pictured).

Meacham has written about both Democrats and Republicans, and has said he has voted for both parties in the past -- although he doesn't usually make his politics public. But he has stepped forward to support to support Joe Biden this year, because he feels it is important to put a decent man back in our White House -- one who will bend the "moral arc" toward justice.

He said:


I AM HISTORIAN JOHN MEACHAM. 

IN HIS FINAL SUNDAY SERMON, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. SAID WE ARE TIED TOGETHER IN A SINGLE GARMENT OF DESTINY. THIS ISTHE WAY GOD'S UNIVERSE IS MADE, THIS IS THE WAY IT IS STRUCTURED. A SINGLE GARMENT OF DESTINY. 

WE THE PEOPLE CANNOT ESCAPE THAT REALITY. NOR CAN YOU AND I ESCAPE HISTORY. WE SHOULD NOT WANT TO. MANY OF US HAVE BEEN GIVEN MUCH, LIBERTY, OPPORTUNITY, A SENSE OF POSSIBILITY. THE TASK OF OUR TIME IS TO MAKE SURE THOSE ARE AVAILABLE NOT JUST TO PEOPLE THAT LOOK LIKE ME BUT TO ALL OF US. 

THIS IS A GRAVE MOMENT IN AMERICA. A DEADLY VIRUS IS RAVAGING US. OUR JOBS ARE EVAPORATING. OUR DEMOCRACY IS UNDER ASSAULT FROM AN INCUMBENT MORE INTERESTED IN HIMSELF THAN HE IS THE REST OF US. EXTREMISM, NATIVISM, ISOLATIONISM AND A LACK OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY FOR WORKING PEOPLE ARE ALL PREVENTING US FROM REALIZING OUR NATION'S PROMISE. 

WE MUST DECIDE WHETHER WE WILL CONTINUE TO BE PRISONERS OF THE DARKNESS OF AMERICAN FORCES OR IF WE WILL FREE OURSELVES TO WRITE A BRIGHTER, BETTER, MORE NOBLE STORY. THAT IS THE ISSUE OF THIS ELECTION. A CHOICE THAT GOES STRAIGHT TO THE NATURE AND THE SOUL OF AMERICA. 

HUMANKIND HAS VIEWED THE SOUL AS THE ESSENCE OF EXISTENCE. THE SOUL IS WHAT MAKES US US. AMERICA'S SOUL WAS ANIMATED BY THE PROPOSITION THAT WE ARE ALL CREATED EQUAL AND BY THE IMPERATIVE TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE TREATED EQUALLY. 

YET AMERICA IS A MIX OF LIGHT AND SHADOW, SENECA FALLS AND STONEWALL DWELL IN THE AMERICAN SOUL BUT SO DO THE IMPULSES THAT HAVE GIVEN US SLAVERY, SYSTEMIC DISCRIMINATION. WE OFTEN PREFER TO HEAR THE TRUMPET RATHER THAN FACE THE TRAGEDIES. AN HONEST ACCOUNTING OF WHO WE HAVE BEEN CAN ENABLE US TO SEE WHO WE SHOULD BE, 

A COUNTRY DRIVEN BY THE BEST PARTS OF OUR SOUL, NOT BY THE WORST, A COUNTRY INFORMED BY REGION -- REASON AND CANDOR, NOT EGO AND LIES. A COUNTRY THAT IS BIGHEARTED, NOT NARROW MINDED. 

THE STRUGGLE TO BE WHO WE OUGHT TO BE IS DIFFICULT, DEMANDING AND ONGOING. JUSTICE CAN BE ELUSIVE AND PAIN IN AMERICA HAS BEEN PROVISIONAL. THE CIVIL WAR LED TO SEGREGATION. HISTORY WHICH WILL SURELY BE OUR JUDGE CAN ALSO BE OUR GUIDE. FROM HARRIET TUBMAN TO ELLIS PAUL TO JOHN LEWIS, FROM THE BEACHES OF NORMANDY TO THE RENDERING OF THE IRON CURTAIN, OUR STORY HAS SOARED WHEN WE BUILD BRIDGES, NOT WALLS, WHEN WE LENT A HAND, NOT WHEN WE POINTED FINGERS. WHEN WE HAVE HOPED, NOT FEARED. 

IF WE LIVE IN HOPE, WE OPEN OUR SOULS TO THE POWER OF LOVE, WE HAVE BEEN TAUGHT TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBORS AS OURSELVES, AS INDIVIDUALS AND AS A NATION, WE FAIL AT FOLLOWING THAT COMMANDMENT MORE OFTEN THEN WE SUCCEED. BUT WHEN WE FAIL, WE MUST TRY AGAIN AND AGAIN FOR ONLY IN TRIAL IS PROGRESS POSSIBLE. 

FROM JAMESTOWN FORWARD, OUR STORY HAS BECOME MORE FULL AND FAIR BECAUSE OF PEOPLE WHO SHARE THE CONVICTION THAT DR. KING ARTICULATED ON THAT SUNDAY HALF A CENTURY AGO. THE ARK OF THE MORAL UNIVERSE IS LONG BUT IT BENDS TOWARD JUSTICE. IT REQUIRES A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES WITH EMPATHY, GRACE, A BIG HEART AND AN OPEN MIND. 

JOE BIDEN WILL BE SUCH A PRESIDENT. WITH OUR VOICES AND OUR VOTES, LET US WRITE THE NEXT CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN STORY. ONE OF HOPE, LOVE, JUSTICE. IF WE DO SO, WE MIGHT JUST SAVE OUR COUNTRY AND OUR SOULS.