We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth. Obama’s riff on gay and lesbian rights then begins in a very specific way which very skillfully links it to both adaptation to new challenges and collective action. Obama’s distinctive play on this came with his declaration that securing equality and freedom entailed both a steadfast commitment to the founding father’s vision and embracing intelligent changes in the light of contemporary challenges.īut we have always understood that when times change, so must we that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action
Presidents and other American orators are fond of quoting this lodestone of the American dream, so it is not surprise that Obama should refer to it.īut his speech was much more telling because he made clear that he took those words as a call to action:įor history tells us that while these truths maybe self-evident, they have never been self-executing that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth.Īgain, a rousing call to act for freedom and equality is common place in the American presidential tradition. 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
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