OUR RIGHTS YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW

OUR RIGHTS YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW

BYRON MCCAULEY @byronmccauley

Eight days after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, half of all Americans tuned into an hour long radio broadcast to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Bill of Rights.

I’m glad I heeded the advice of a wise friend who encouraged me to listen to it the other day, as we reflected on the 21st century political and social climate. I hope you will do the same.

“We Hold These Truths” was a theatrical production featuring some of the day’s most notable entertainers, including Jimmy Stewart, Orson Welles and Rudy Vallee, and it was broadcast on every major radio network. Writer Norman Corwin won a Peabody Award for the work. He was on a train to California when he heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor and wired President Franklin Roosevelt to ask if the show was still on. Reports said Corwin received a wire the next day: “The President thinks it’s more important now than ever to proceed with the program.”

Imagine that. An ironic confluence of events: America being officially drawn into World War II to fight against world tyranny, and the celebration of amendments to codify personal rights and freedoms. No wonder 63 million people tuned in that day.  Surely Americans, horrified and uncertain about the future needed reassurance that our Democracy remained strong. They needed to hear familiar voices in real time in the roles of representatives making their cases to cement liberty and freedom for future generations in all their diversity. They needed to know that their America stood for liberty and freedom.

Today, on the cusp of 225 years after those first 10 amendments were ratified, it is useful to be reminded of the power of the Bill of Rights, why the amendments exist and whom they protect – even as personal and religious freedoms appear threatened by those running for the nation’s highest office.

There are other, pressing social issues that have some people wondering whether the application of the Bill of Rights is fair in this modern-day world. These issues have become personified in street protests over law enforcement actions against citizens, angst over labor protection and government overreach.

Technology has made the world much smaller today than it was in 1941. Messages can travel fast and loud. And from where I sit, civility has been crowded by anger and obstinacy. Too many of us are too eager to demonize people over race, class and religion.

However, the ideals reflected in the Bill of Rights are among the reasons America remains a beacon on a hill.

More than 225 years ago, without benefit of a crystal ball, a group of men began to forge a document that cements liberty and freedom today. It shall endure.

You can listen to a YouTube version of “We Hold These Truths” at http://bit.ly/1UiFpBm