At one time or another, we’ve all heard the preamble to the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
One might easily argue that all men are not created equal, inasmuch as individuals are born in various shapes and sizes, with varying innate qualities such as intelligence, and so on. Even identical twins are not entirely identical and “equal.”
Moreover, it is the height of hypocrisy that Thomas Jefferson, a slave owner, should proclaim that all men are endowed with certain unalienable Rights, one of which is Liberty. Those lofty words were written by a White man, for White men. They were not written for women or Blacks or Native Americans whose so-called unalienable Rights were severely restricted, such as being denied the right to vote.
Yet the fundamental idea of equality remained a noble vision and a supremely worthy goal for idealists such as Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and Susan B. Anthony. We honor these great American heroes with a national holiday, their image on a coin or stamp, and so on.
Between 1525 and 1866, about 388,000 Africans were shipped to North America as slaves. In 1860, the number of slaves in America peaked at about 4 million. Slaves were generally prohibited from attending school and learning how to read and write. Slaves were not allowed to own property; rather, slaves were legally classified as property.
The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified on December 6, 1865, officially abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States. But state and local statutes known as Jim Crow laws, mostly in the South, enforced racial segregation and discrimination against Blacks. These laws mandated segregation in public facilities, transportation, schools, hospitals, public transportation, restaurants, and parks. And Jim Crow laws limited or prevented Black people from voting.
This isn’t ancient history. This was in my lifetime. The Jim Crow era prevailed until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or natural origin, and banned discrimination in employment, public accommodations, and voter registration.
However, a few good laws cannot and did not erase centuries of discrimination, hardship, and abuse. In 2023, the homeownership rate for White households was 74%, while for Black households it was 46%. Discriminatory housing practices have systemically diminished Black folks’ opportunities to own their own homes.
Wealth inequality also means Black people face systemic disparities in health care and health outcomes. The life expectancy for Blacks in America is nearly five years shorter than White people (72.8 years vs. 77.5 years). The infant mortality rate for Black infants is more than twice that of White infants, and Black women are almost three times more likely than White women to die due to pregnancy-related reasons.
At the very least, Americans should have access to adequate health care. Sadly, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that President Trump’s signature legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and its cuts to Medicaid will result in 10 million more Americans without health insurance by 2034.
Moreover, according to research from the nonpartisan Urban Institute, this bill will cause more than 22 million American families to lose some or all of their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. It’s the biggest cut to SNAP in history. Families will lose an average of $146 a month in SNAP benefits.
You know the old saying: “The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.” That’s especially true in America during the past five years. While MAGA Republicans groused about lockdowns, vaccines, and Dr. Fauci, retailers such as Walmart jacked up their prices and blamed it on COVID-related problems in the supply chain, even as their profits and stock prices soared. In January 2020, when COVID first became recognized in the US, Walmart stock price was $35.22 per share. It peaked earlier this year at $104.51 – almost tripling in value in about five years.
According to Inequality.org: “Even during the most intense period of the pandemic, as ordinary people around the world suffered from Covid-related health and economic crises, billionaires saw their fortunes expand ... the combined wealth of all U.S. billionaires increased by $2.071 trillion (70.3%) between March 18, 2020 and October 15, 2021, from approximately $2.947 trillion to $5.019 trillion. Of the more than 700 U.S. billionaires, the richest five (Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, and Elon Musk) saw a 123% increase in their combined wealth during this period.”
Wealth inequality in the U.S. is greater than in any other major developed nation. According to GOBankingRates: “If the total wealth of the United States was distributed equally among all Americans, each person would receive approximately $471,465. This calculation is based on a total household wealth of $160.35 trillion and a population of roughly 340.11 million people.”
According to the Maine Center for Economic Policy: “The bill [One Big Beautiful Bill Act] continues some provisions which expand existing tax breaks for the rich. It temporarily increases the amount taxpayers can deduct in state and local taxes from their federal returns, from the current $10,000 per filer to $40,000 per filer through 2030. This provides virtually no support to most taxpayers, and only helps wealthy individuals with high incomes or expensive homes.
“The bill also includes permanent corporate tax breaks that allow large companies to avoid paying taxes and to give their wealthy shareholders bigger dividends instead, in addition to making permanent 2017 changes like lowering the top rate of federal income tax and increasing the amount of money wealthy people can pass on to their children tax-free.
“Overall, the richest 1% of Americans would receive an average tax cut of almost $65,000 in 2026, while people in the poorest 20% would receive a tax cut of just $110. ... Everyday Americans will not experience the full effect of even these relatively small tax cuts in their paychecks.”
During the first few days of his second term in office, President Trump signed executive orders to end diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs within the federal government. All federal DEI employees were placed on leave. Funding for so-called DEI initiatives across all agencies was stopped. Executive orders from previous administrations that aimed to promote diversity throughout the federal government were rescinded.
Trump is destroying decades of efforts designed to create a more level playing field for millions of Americans who have been historically and systemically disadvantaged. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act ensures that MAGA Republicans’ corporate overlords will continue to get richer while the poor will not only get poorer, millions will lose access to health care and basic nutrition.
Trump is waging war on the most helpless and vulnerable Americans, leading us further and further away from any semblance of fairness and equality.
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