What Are We Fighting For? :: Essays Papers

What Are We Fighting For? â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.† This is the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. This is the contract we have with our leaders to ensure that tyranny and injustice never take the power away from the people. This is the freedom we fight for when we send our military into foreign countries to overthrow oppressive regimes. And this is the soul of the nation which we must protect from anyone or anything that stands in its way. Recently, events have united the nation in a way that has not been seen in several years. We often take for granted how good we have it here. To be an American is a privilege that many fight for and never have. We are the most diverse country in the world. We have African Americans, Latin Americans, Asian Americans Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Scientologists: you name it, we’ve got it. Consisting of people of every background, race, ethnicity, and religion, often we do not have a single thing in common, except for one thing: we’re all Amer icans. We all live here with the trust that we have as much freedom as our neighbors to do what we want and live how we want. However, we still have obstacles we must overcome to fully achieve this freedom. Throughout our history, short as it may be, Americans have overcome many social obstacles that would diminish our human rights. We have given women equal rights, a concept that many nations would scoff at. We have fought a war to abolish slavery, an institution that would hold whites over blacks. We continue to fight for our Declaration of Independence, which states, â€Å"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all People 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.† How soon we forget what all the fighting is for. While blacks have their rights, and women can vote, our nation is beginning to realize that there is a new minority slowly emerging into the public view.