Dear Editor: This year, Sitkans for Peace and Democracy participated in the Fourth of July parade, which commemorates the July 4, 1776, adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress. Because our activism is likewise rooted in the principles of American democracy set out in the Declaration of Independence, our participation seemed especially meaningful and fitting, and we chose the ‘‘Declaration’’ as the theme for our parade entry.
Following the color guard led by veteran Bruce Gazaway and retired history teacher Harvey Brandt, we marched with a banner of the preamble to the Declaration, which remains aspirational nearly 250 years later: ‘‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…’’ Our culminating banner was based on the theme of this year’s parade, ‘‘Youth to the Future: Upholding American Democracy for our Children’s Future.’’
Banners were followed by a remarkable 10-foot-high paper maché statue of Lady Justice, whose image is a powerful and enduring symbol of justice, appearing in courthouses worldwide – including the U.S. Supreme Court – as a reminder of the core principles of fairness and equity under the law.
Because our entry so aptly captured the meaning of the holiday and was executed with such beauty and creativity, it is no wonder that it generated considerable applause and admiration.
Yet there is a disturbing discordance between the text of the Declaration of Independence and the symbolism of Lady Justice, and much of what is happening in Washington, D.C., today. Certainly, the assertion that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights’’ – which the Founders chose as the opening statement to the preamble of the Declaration of Independence – has been forsaken by the Trump administration. The rejection of equality in the eyes of God and the law, which are deeply rooted in the Declaration of Independence and commemorated and celebrated on the Fourth of July, leaves us puzzled about what America means to those who claim to be patriots but reject these foundational principles of American democracy.
And so we march.
Wendy Alderson,
Tory O’Connell Curran,
Donna Donohoe, Bruce Gazaway, Cindy Litman, Pat Kehoe Pendell
for Sitkans for Peace & Democracy
