Obama says America is no longer what it once was, I agree.

Today Senator Obama told a little 7 year old girl, "America is no longer what it could be, what it once was, and I say to myself I don't want that future for my children." Obama is saying that America has become a worse nation since his childhood. I'm not one to go after a spouse, but I think given that Michelle Obama said that she was proud of her country for the first time in her life eariler in this campaign. This statement is just another stupid mistake that Obama should've avoided. However Obama is right about one thing, America is no longer what it once was, it's much, much better. I'm a History major so were going to have a refresher course right here.


America is no longer what it once was. In 1776 when our founders wrote the Declaration of Independence they wrote these words. "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." However their was slavery, women and minorites weren't allowed to vote. Whites and Blacks went to separate schools. Ate in separate Resturants and were kept separated for the majority of the country's history. There was the Dred Scott decision were the Supreme Court ruled that a slave born in the U.S. was not a citizen in 1856. It also said a man in a slave state could move to a free state and still have slaves

Only five years after the Dred Scott decision the Civil war began. We won't go into the political reasons for the war, or the fact it had little to nothing to do with slavery. The important thing is that the 13th 14th and 15th Amendments were added to the U.S. Constitution. These Amendments freed the slaves, gave them the right to vote, and guaranteed them equal protection under the law. Women were given the right to vote in 1920 as part of the 19th Amendment. However for some reason the Supreme Court didn't get the message.

At the end of Reconstruction in the south Southern States began to pass what we now refer to as Jim Crow laws. These laws separated Whites and Blacks by forcing them to use separate public accommodations. A famous supreme court case rose from these laws, Plessy V. Ferguson.

In 1896 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Plessy V. Ferguson that Louisana "Separate but Equal" laws were constitutional. This decision upheld the constitutionality of segregation. The law said that racial segregation was legal has long as both blacks and whites had equal accommodations.
It wasn't until 1954 that this decision was overturned in Brown Vs. Board of Education. Years after the decision the law still wasn't being enforced in the South. In 1957 Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus had his National Guard block black students from entering Little Rock High School. President Einshower responded by federalizing Arkansas' National Guard and by sending in the 101th Airborne. The last notable event regarding Brown Vs Board of Education, was in 1963 when Alabama's Governor George Wallace stood in the doorway of Foster Auditorim at the University of Alabama to block two black students from enrolling at the University. Wallace is known for his famous saying, "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever." However Wallace left the doorway when confronted with federal marshalls and the Deputy Attorney General of the United States.

Then of Course there is the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed all Segregation. It also ended the Jim Crow era. The Bill Passed the House with ease but was fillabustered for 54 days before the Senate finally got enough votes to end the fillabuster and pass the bill. (you need a 2/3 majority to end a fillibuster, 67 votes) The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed practices that were meant to keep blacks from voting. Poll taxes, literacy tests (which would've been impossible for most educated whites to pass), grandfather clauses (if your grandfather could vote so could you) etc. The Act gave federal oversight to elections in areas that had practiced discrimination. The Act was reauthorized in 2006 for another 25 years.

I'm sure I could go on but by now I think you probably get the point. America is no longer what it once was. It is now a true democracy where everyone is treated equal under the law. Understanding there still are some problems with discrimnation and there always will be, to say that America has gone downhill, or isn't a good country anymore just because Obama doesn't like whose in the Oval Office is elitest crap! To quote Ronald Reagan America is still the best last hope on earth. We still live in a country that fights for freedom of others. That tries to make good on past mistakes. That allows every man and woman to speak freely, and to worship any way they see fit. GOD BLESS AMERICA!

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