Something Missing From Our Fourth of July Celebrations

6/28/2011

Alan Sears

It was such a curious omission. Last September, in a speech at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute in Washington, D.C., President Barack Obama was taking his audience on a quick tour of early U.S. history when he referenced a line from the Declaration of Independence, whose 135th anniversary we will celebrate next week.

“Long before America was even an idea,” he said, “this land of plenty was home to many peoples – to British and French, to Dutch and Spanish, to Mexican, to countless Indian tribes. We all shared the same land. We didn’t always get along. But over the centuries, what eventually bound us together – what made us all Americans – was not a matter of blood. It wasn’t a matter of birth. It was faith and fidelity to the shared values that we all hold so dear.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,’ endowed with certain inalienable rights: life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That’s what makes us unique,” he said. “That’s what makes us strong. The ability to recognize our common humanity.”

Notice anything missing? The actual Declaration reads, “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.”

As I said, it’s a curious omission. And a troubling one, especially since it seems to be a pattern.  the rest image