Last week I accompanied my 3rd grade daughter on her class field trip. Waiting in a darkened (the teacher keeps the lights off when it's oppressively hot) classroom to board the bus we listened to the announcements and said the Pledge of Allegiance with the entire school.
As we stood, I (who can cry at the drop of a hat)got teary eyed. I was thankful the lights were off. Why did I get teary eyed?
I thought of saying the Pledge when I was in 3rd grade and I believed all the words. I thought of when I said the Pledge in high school and I would leave out "under God" and change the last words to "with liberty and justice for some."
With liberty and justice for all. These words were never real, but they are an ideal that most of us have held in our hearts - that one day, this might be true.
Mostly I was teary eyed because I felt bereft. Under this administration these words are totally empty. With liberty and justice for all. What does that mean to George Bush, Dick Cheney, the senate, the supreme court? Nothing to just regular folks as far as I can see.
My husband I adopted 2 children from Guatemala in 1998. We were so happy to be bringing them here so that they could be anything and everything they want to be. We wonder now, will the future bring them all the things we once thought possible? Here, in this place, with liberty and justice for some?