Our Opinions: Harry Lays It On The Line, p. 6
Dublin Core
Title
Our Opinions: Harry Lays It On The Line, p. 6
Description
"With the bricks of the opposition [ill.] about his ears and the Dixiecrat members of his own party gunning for his scalp, the redoubtable Harry S. Truman still sticks to his fair deal program, including civil rights, and those who don’t like it, can lump it.
In his Independence Day address at the foot of the Washington monument last week, President Truman warned: “Anyone who undertakes to abridge the right of any American to life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness commits three great wrongs. He wrongs the individual, but in addition he wrongs his country and he betrays the hopes of mankind. It is for this reason that persecution of minorities, which is wrong anywhere, is worse in America.”
Recalling the Declaration of Independence 175 years ago, Truman declared:
“Our forefathers in Philadelphia not only established a new nation–they established a nation based on a new idea. They said that all men were created equal. They based the whole idea of government on this God-given equality of men.”
We do not have to add that a great many Americans who boast of their patriotism do not understand this idea and do not subscribe to it. Truman did the nation a service on July 4th by giving new and badly needed emphasis to the fundamental concepts which gave birth to our nation.
He was right too when he said that we must demonstrate our faith in democracy by our actions. To the enemies who seek to prove that the “ideas of our Declaration of Independence are a sham and a fraud,” the President gave a simple answer. He declared:
“The way to meet this attack is to show that it is false–to live up to our ideals–to prove that we mean them.”"
In his Independence Day address at the foot of the Washington monument last week, President Truman warned: “Anyone who undertakes to abridge the right of any American to life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness commits three great wrongs. He wrongs the individual, but in addition he wrongs his country and he betrays the hopes of mankind. It is for this reason that persecution of minorities, which is wrong anywhere, is worse in America.”
Recalling the Declaration of Independence 175 years ago, Truman declared:
“Our forefathers in Philadelphia not only established a new nation–they established a nation based on a new idea. They said that all men were created equal. They based the whole idea of government on this God-given equality of men.”
We do not have to add that a great many Americans who boast of their patriotism do not understand this idea and do not subscribe to it. Truman did the nation a service on July 4th by giving new and badly needed emphasis to the fundamental concepts which gave birth to our nation.
He was right too when he said that we must demonstrate our faith in democracy by our actions. To the enemies who seek to prove that the “ideas of our Declaration of Independence are a sham and a fraud,” the President gave a simple answer. He declared:
“The way to meet this attack is to show that it is false–to live up to our ideals–to prove that we mean them.”"
Creator
N/A
Publisher
The Chicago Defender
Date
1951-7-14
Collection
Citation
N/A, “Our Opinions: Harry Lays It On The Line, p. 6,” African American Fourth of July, accessed April 28, 2024, https://africanamerican4th.omeka.net/items/show/37.