Rethinking “We”
“We the People…” These are the first three words of the Constitution for the United States of America. No three words have held more power as an implied promise of democracy and, simultaneously, proven furthest from the truth. In saying “We the People,” and the words that followed, the Founding Fathers declared a government that spoke for every man, woman, and child who resided in America. However, the Founders did not consult or consider most of the voices in America because the Founding Fathers defined most bodies as inhuman or incapable. “Most” in this sense signifies an anathema to the American spirit we profess today – the fact is that the majority of bodies in America were voiceless and powerless, and the Founders enabled this in their constitutional design.
Philosophers continue to consider the ramifications and meaning of a person being considered “a problem.” As the Founding Fathers made clear, the benefits of America were never meant for the women and people of color whose toil would build the nation. “They” were simply resources. Philosophers captured the nature of the problem through the term “unwelcome beings.” To be specific, it is beings that are unwelcomed, not the bodies. Beings think, feel, and have rights. Bodies were, and are, a necessity, a resource – for slavery, mass incarceration, and other systems of domination that provide capital for the modern “few.”
An uncritical celebration of America’s Constitution leaves these facts outside of various institutional Constitution Day festivities. The uncritical celebration prefers that the festivities’ decorations remain clean and untarnished. Alternative Constitution Day does exactly the opposite.
By highlighting the Reconstruction Amendments, Alternative Constitution Day not only envisions what could have been, it envisions what should be. When we put on blinders or shroud ourselves in some illusionary flag of perfection, we fail our communities, our country, and ourselves. Moreover, we also fail the plethora of countries looking to America for guidance and direction. We signal to others that as long as you call yourself ideal or perfect, you are. It can be no surprise, then, when our statements to other countries and cultures fall on deaf ears. But when we as a society are prepared to recognize our mistakes and our faults, we permit ourselves to grow stronger and wiser.
As we exit football season and stand at the cusp of March Madness, fans take for granted that their teams will continually critically evaluate their successes and errors in the past game and the past season. It is the way their team will improve and win championships. Alternative Constitution Day does what traditional Constitution Day does not by unapologetically reviewing the bad plays and bad choices, as well as the touchdowns and slam-dunks. Only by continuing to review what went wrong, as well as what went right, can we win – a country where “We the People” resonates for all the people, a true democracy.
Darrell D. Jackson, JD, PhD, Associate Professor of Law; Adjunct Professor, African American & Diaspora Studies; University of Wyoming