Right now, the 14th Amendment is the most important part of the Constitution because this nation is clearly going in the wrong direction due to racial discrimination. I believe the United States is already divided and history is slowly starting to repeat itself. I understand the 14th is one of the weakest amendments but it still needs to be acknowledged as a part of the Constitution.
The 14th amendment states, ”No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” In the same section, the amendment states, “nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Despite the 14th amendment, Jim Crow laws were still created. Even the blind could see that “separate but equal” is bullshit and a cover up for racial discrimination. For example, Brown v. Board of Education and the Little Rock 9 situation exposes the discrimination and the lack of equality in this country.
You could fast forward to today and we still have the same problems. Now, it is like social media shines the light upon all the discrimination. It is appalling to me how our president had one job to discuss the problems in Charlottesville, Virginia and failed. There is no compromise for denying my humanity in America.
Donald Trump unintentionally or maybe intentionally initiated the slippery-slope fallacy. Now that he allowed one city to be prejudice, I think there is more to come. I believe we need to stop sugar-coating America and let it expose itself to show what it really is. If Donald Trump was African-American, would he really be president?
I feel that the only thing these crooked cops have to do is arrest you, so they can take your right to vote. It is a perfect example of how the people at the top always take advantage of the people at the bottom. You don’t have to turn on the news to see there is racial discrimination.
One day, I drove to Circle K and I had to park on the side of building because there were no parking spaces left. I was in the car on the phone with my mother for like 10 minutes because I didn’t know where she placed her credit card. As I was getting out the car, a man was pulled up (with his child in the backseat) beside me saying he was on the phone with the police because he knows all the drugs I have in my car. I didn’t say anything so I just cringed and walked in the store. As I walked back to the car, I see police cars pulling into the gas station. So I calmly walked to my mom’s car and drove off because I wasn’t going to get searched without a warrant and I acknowledge what “being searched” can lead to.
It just exposes how easily you can be a target of discrimination in your own city. I acknowledge how the 14th amendment had to be followed up by the 15th and 19th amendments and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 but it is the base of this constitution and make us equal as a nation.
If we do not stand for equality than who will? As Malcolm X once said:
“Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you’re a man, you take it.”
It is up to us to defend our rights and equality until we are left with no inequality. Stand for something or fall for anything.
Edited By: Zikeria James
Edited By: Ansley Cain
