Amend: The Fight for America

Amend: The Fight for America

2021, History  -    -  Playlist 7 Comments
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The United States of America is a country shaped by the ideals that every person should be treated equally, given access to justice and freedom to make their own decisions about how they live their lives. But even today, "every person" doesn't exactly mean all.

In 1868, the not so recognizable 14th amendment was ratified, granting citizenship to all persons born in the United States. Though it does not receive as much "air time" as the 2nd amendment (the right to bear arms), it is probably the most important amendment of all. It promises true equality - specifically for former slaves freed by the 13th amendment after the Civil War.

This was a massive step in the African American quest to achieve true freedom. They finally had equal protection under the law and could now own property and access public education and more. The 14th amendment was one of the legacies of the Civil War, as well as President Lincoln's and his Emancipation Proclamation and former slave Douglas Adams who exposed how slaves were treated down South.

Sadly, after ratification, a string of violent atrocities like the Colfax massacre, among others, plagued the Reconstruction movement. These enabled the pro-white Supreme Court to systematically subvert and undermine the equality promised by the 14th amendment. The Jim Crow Laws soon followed, denying black Americans societal rights and promoting segregation in schools, churches and more. Even worse, it normalized lynching by anti-black organizations such as the Klu Klux Klan.

There was also a new revisionist ideology born in the South that swept the nation as well. "The Lost Cause" ideology promoted a belief in white supremacy, glamorizing the past with claims of a genteel South where slaves were not treated that badly. Hollywood also helped spread these sentiments with movies like "Gone with the Wind."

During the 1960s, African Americans were tired of being segregated. Thus, the Civil rights movement began and quickly gained momentum. It was led by Martin Luther King Jr., who pushed President John F. Kennedy into action by orchestrating peaceful yet strategic protests. His goal was for segregation to be abolished - which President Kennedy eventually did in 1963.

When the 1970s arrived, a new group of disenfranchised Americans now demanded that they benefit from the promises of the 14th amendment. Women, at this point, were not given the same rights as men, with the state having control over a woman's body. Feminism was on the rise, and the Women's Movement was born, appealing to evolving interpretations of their constitutional right, fighting for control over their destinies and choices within a changing society.

The 14th amendment is a revolutionary piece of legislation and continues to influence America's quest for true freedom for all its citizens. Its central promise is still being fulfilled today as Americans work together towards equality.

Directed by: Kenny Leon, Reinaldo Marcus

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mike m
mike m
26 days ago

Why nothing about how corporations got in on this and why that should be amended?
That's the reason we're ALL slaves to the corporate rule.
Amend that crud!
Get them out of personhood!
The rest of the 14th is just fine.
NOT corporate personhood!!!
Yeah, the first and second are all prayed to and worshiped, it seems.
Then not a thought to the one that lets corporations give millions to politics.
Americans just don't think. Won't read; no attention span.
Republicans WORSHIP the 14th.
Look up moveon.org on internet.
IF, ,,,, you can read:]

Carl
Carl
2 years ago

When i think of America i think what a bull sh*t land i never ever wanna go there

Voluntaryist
Voluntaryist
2 years ago

The Declaration of Independence was the reason given for the secession from the U.K. It announced a new political concept, e.g., all men (people) are created (politically) equal. Since there was no USA, to claim this only applied to citizens, is preposterous. This concept was an expansion of one person (a royal) as sovereign, to all. And this concept was unique to America, to Americans. It was the basis of the American Dream. The first unifying document of the 13 American countries was The Articles of Confederation, a loose statement of cooperation for defense from other countries' interference. Fourteen presidents served. Then, a convention was convented to amend it. but instead overthrew it, replacing it with an anti-American document, the constitution, that when ratified (accepted by an elite, for the elite) resulted in a bloodless, silent coup. Individual sovereignty was trumped by federal authority, e.g., taxation, eminent domain, two property right violations institutionalized. This was the beginning of the end of The American Dream.

Voluntaryist
Voluntaryist
2 years ago

"Due process" like all words are defined, then redefined by those in power, NOT the populace.
The NDAA authorizes the POTUS to secretly kidnap, torture, kill, anyone, anywhere, anytime, if he believes that person is a terrorist. We are told by TPTB that is the "new due process".
Voting is forfeiting your political power to someone else, and non-voters lose their power also, according to the constitution.
Why haven't we heard this explained? Someday, it will be, when the public is subservient enough, when the rulers think they can get away with it without mass protests. That day draws nearer and nearer as the schools condition (indoctrinate) children in obedience to authority. Why do you think public school is compulsory? Why is private ed controlled by bureaucrats? Info is power, control of all info is totalitarianism.

Never said
Never said
2 years ago

I find it amusing that they never include this bit. It wasn't until 1856 that Freeman nonproperty owners could vote. I don't currently meet the property standard as I rent.

And before 18th century many religious congregations couldn't vote in jurisdiction s.

In the 18th-century Thirteen Colonies, suffrage was restricted to white males with the following property qualifications:[9]

Connecticut: an estate worth 40 shillings annually or £40 of personal property
Delaware: fifty acres of land (twelve under cultivation) or £40 of personal property
Georgia: fifty acres of land
Maryland: fifty acres of land and £40 personal property
Massachusetts Bay: an estate worth 40 shillings annually or £40 of personal property
New Hampshire: £50 of personal property
New Jersey: one-hundred acres of land, or real estate or personal property £50
New York: £40 of personal property or ownership of land
North Carolina: fifty acres of land
Pennsylvania: fifty acres of land or £50 of personal property
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations: personal property worth £40 or yielding 50 shillings annually
South Carolina: one-hundred acres of land on which taxes were paid; or a town house or lot worth £60 on which taxes were paid; or payment of 10 shillings in taxes
Virginia: fifty acres of vacant land, twenty-fives acres of cultivated land, and a house twelve feet by twelve feet; or a town lot and a house twelve feet by twelve.

athea marcos amir
athea marcos amir
2 years ago

Fantastic! I'm in tears. Thanks to all you made this incredibly educational documentary.