Ericka Devoe

...

No, we Americans have not lived up to the ideals presented in 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"... Those are the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, the ideals of our Nation, yet these days, persecution against people's' religion, race, sexual identification, and gender are things we see every day. If these issues are regularly occurring, we are most definitely not living up to the Declaration's ideas! People who are constantly being discriminated against are not getting their equal share of "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness". People should be able to walk the streets without getting mocked or made fun of, according to our Declaration. People should be able to pursue their happiness without being scoffed at or taunted. People should be able to live life freely, no oppression or shame involved! Yes, what I've stated above are the ideals of our Nation, and what I've stated above are practically dreams to the discriminated on in America. These dreams are supposed to be a reality, but at the rate we're working at, it'll take a really long time for the ideals of the Declaration of Independence to be met. America's victimized citizens are locked up, living behind bars set up by the racist, sexist, homophobic, and xenophobic people of today. What a "land of the free" we live in... Do you really call that free? Do you really think these people who are discriminated against are pursuing their happiness with utmost liberty? Well, these people are not living life the way they should be. In the end, they aren't living life up to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence.

Work Cited

Contracts Clause of Article 1, Section 10

Natelson, R. (10.December,2017) Constitution, CONSTITUTION- All Postings, CONSTITUTION - Supreme Court, Issues.

https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Fi2i.org%2fThe-constitution-does-indeed-permit-immigration-caps-as-part-of-the-law-of-nations%2F

Parks, W. Goals of Democracy. Ends and means in Democratic Theory.

http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/17208/1/ar530112.pdf