Thoughts upon Equality

申辰瑜

Anyone who has some basic knowledge about The Declaration of Independence might not be unfamiliar with the following lines，“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 they are among these are life，liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Those words were truly respectable and encouraging at that time as well as today，symbolizing the spirit of America.Nobody can deny what proud and solemnity it had brought to the American people，of declaring their independence officially，which meant they were no longer submissive slaves to the Great Britain any more； and more importantly，of revealing a brand-new era of equality.

Nevertheless，after pondering upon the history of Negros learnt in the past and the great speech“Where Do We Go From Here” that Dr.King had delivered，I started to think about equality （“that all men are created equal”）.Is there any possibility that human beings can finally achieve that goal，or it is just a far-off，unrealistic and utopian dream，or whats worse，a seemingly plausible but virtually rotten announcement？ Well，this doubt and disbelief isnt coming from nowhere，actually it is from the document of the past，the cruelty and viciousness white men had lain upon black men，the inhumane treatment，bare discrimination and many shameful sins.With all those I have to ask，when the world-renowned paper mentioned“all men”，does it also include the black people？ If the answer is yea，then how to explain the once predominant slavery，who is to condemn？ If the answer is nay，then the whole thing could be even worse，because the truth is that white men didnt even regard the black as human beings，instead they consider this group of people as“slave”，an inferior being who didnt deserve the treatment as a person.And that is the real shameful thing，like the speech highlighted.

There are two kinds of inequality，the exterior inequality and the interior one.The former is no easy to conquer，but the latter is more difficult to combat，for its a kind of inequality that is deeply rooted in peoples heart.Time after time it would become these peoples self-recognition，viewing themselves as natural slaves and thus accepting the unreasonable arrangements.Frantz Fanon，a French sociologist specializes in the study of post-colonialism.In his influential book Deau mire，masque blancs，he talked about the black and white in France.Heres a view from his observation which is also true of American.White men are always whooping their divine status，their superiority as being white and degrading other races as“colorful”.However，they dont realize that they themselves are colored too，merely the color is white.So，from this we can sense the unimaginable arrogance of white men which take up every corner of their heart，just as D.H.Lawrence once depicted“the maniacal fanaticism of our white mental consciousness”.So we have to notice that this is not about external factor any more，not all about economy.It is more related to mentality，spirit and culture.At this point，I cant agree more with Dr.King.He said at the beginning of his speech that the initial thing for his dear brothers to do was to assert their dignity and worth.They had to establish their confidence and value their own culture，paying heed to their wounded history and then thinking about practical ways to fight for themselves.

Today，America has progressed a lot in the aspect of eliminating discrimination and achieving equality.As is known to all，Rice became the former secretary of state and Obama the incumbent president.More and more young black kids are welcomed to the threshold of higher education and decent jobs.But at the same time，a vast majority of the black people is still struggling at the bottom of the social ladder，undertaking the unfavorable jobs and living in poverty-stricken areas.Clearly，discrimination and inequality still hold some place in this country.So，in order to achieve that goal，there still is a long way to go……