My neighbor Elly and I are in our 70s and 80s. Every now and then we take an
afternoon to talk. Our grandkids call it “Crumpets, coffee and the Constitution” because
these days, we’ve been talking about this document. We’ve been wondering if the Constitution will hold fast the center of our government given the chaos our president
has caused — in government agencies, in Congress and in the courts with his many
lawsuits. We decided to actually read the document.
We were both intimidated by this prospect from a long history of our school-girl fears that the document was impenetrable. To our surprise, we found the Constitution not at all intimidating. First of all, you can buy it online or in what’s left of book stores for as little as $3.95, used. Or maybe even borrow it from our grandchildren, or take it out from the library. It is a small book named, “The Constitution of the United States of America.” It includes, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Amendments XI –XXVII.
This is what we found. Go directly to the section named “The Constitution.” This section
outlines the basic rules and principles of democracy, such as freedom of the press, freedom of speech, the right to worship, and the right of citizens to vote; and, no person shall be deprived of the right of due process of law. That’s impressive, we thought.
The third and fourth sections of the Constitution are the Bill of Rights and the Amendments where we “amended,” made into law, the changes that needed to be made. Elly and I know as much as anyone that Democracy is imperfect, but as such, we see that the Amendments give us a chance to fix the wrongs. For example, the 19th Amendment in 1920 made it legal for women to vote; and in 1954, the Supreme Court ruled, on the basis of one of the clauses in the 14th Amendment, “the equal protection of the laws,” segregation in public schools was illegal. Of course, the amendments did not wipe out racism or discrimination. Fighting for equality is a never-ending battle. But nonetheless, these amendments became law and thus, provide legal steps to continuously correct the wrong-doings in our democracy.
Elly and I found that our Constitution is a living, breathing document. It protects our aspirations and our needs for change. It is a document of principles, rules and laws to contain chaos and inhibit lawless behavior. It is a document to establish a basis for morality. It is a document to read, to remember and to live by, and to insist that our leaders adhere to its rules for keeping our people safe and free. It is the rope we hang on to in order to get to the barn in the blizzard. Reading it we see that we have a way to restore order to chaos.
It has been a hopeful conversation, between Elly and I.
Daisy Broudy and Elly Donkin live in Amherst.