Picture this—it’s November 17, 1863, and Lincoln’s sitting down, stressed out, trying to draft the Gettysburg Address. He’s dealing with a country split in two, and he’s like, “Ya know what? Let’s cut the crap—this war isn’t just about keeping the Union together. It’s about ending slavery.” He’s finally saying what everyone’s too scared to say out loud! And he whips out this 272-word mic-drop of a speech. No fluff, no frills, just a straight-up “new birth of freedom” that says, hey, maybe we should actually follow the whole “all men are created equal” thing we threw into the Declaration of Independence. Novel concept, huh?
But here we are, folks, in 2024. It’s been 160 years, and we still haven’t wrapped our heads around it! Lincoln lays out this vision, this massive reset for America, like “Hey, let’s do better,” and we’ve spent the last century and a half basically saying, “Yeah, that sounds nice… for later.” Right now, the country’s in turmoil again, just like then. Racism is still as American as apple pie, and our so-called “freedom” has turned into this exclusive club that a lot of people don’t have the right membership for.
Think about it: we’ve got systems in place that keep racism alive and kicking, just updated for the times. You want to vote? Here’s a maze of ID laws, gerrymandering, and purges to make sure only the right people get through. You want to survive a traffic stop? Good luck with that if your skin tone doesn’t match a crayon labeled “beige.” And the cherry on top? Immigration policy! Because, yeah, the message now is basically, “We’re the land of the free… but don’t get too comfortable if you’re not born here.”
Black Lives Matter, immigration reform, the fight for voting rights—it’s like we’re recycling the same battles. Lincoln’s out here rolling in his grave, like, “Guys, I already gave you the blueprint! What the hell’s the holdup?” But no, we’re here again, division deep as ever, and half the country’s pretending we don’t know why. Meanwhile, the other half’s screaming, “We’ve been trying to tell you!” It’s exhausting.
Lincoln was asking us to wake up, to realize that we can’t be a free country while holding people back. But now, just try bringing up equality and suddenly you’re a “radical.” They act like equality’s this huge inconvenience, like your kid asking for a second helping of broccoli. “Whoa, whoa, slow down with all that progress stuff! Freedom for everyone? Let’s not get crazy!”
So here we are, standing on Lincoln’s shoulders but squinting into the same fog he saw. 160 years later, we’ve updated our gadgets, but we’re still working off the same old script, just ignoring the parts we don’t like. Lincoln gave us a vision, a big one, of a “new birth of freedom,” and it’s just sitting there, gathering dust, waiting for us to finally step up.
Let’s be real, the question isn’t whether we can change; it’s whether we want to change. Or are we just gonna keep kicking this down the road, telling ourselves, “We’ll figure it out eventually?”
