246 years ago, our forefathers gathered in Philadelphia and changed the course of human history. As they proclaimed the birth of a new nation, they advanced three radical propositions: that all men are created equal, that they are entitled to certain God-given rights, and that government must be subordinate to the people.
Not the other way around.
11 years later, in the same hall, the Founders authored a Constitution which ensured that these God-given rights could not be infringed upon by government.
American conservatism’s central tenet is that the ideas of the Declaration and the Constitution still hold true, and that they are worth fighting for.
This July 4th, and always, Republicans stand up for the beliefs our nation was Founded upon. We know that America is truly exceptional. And we are unafraid to defend her.
President Calvin Coolidge put it best in his speech on the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. He said, "If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions."
Today, the "progressive" left denies Coolidge’s wisdom.
Their extreme proposals to transform America miss his essential insight: there is no improving upon the ideals that form the bedrock of our national identity.
By advocating for differential treatment on the basis of race, the woke left harkens back to old ideas which far pre-date our founding. Vice President Kamala Harris has supported The New York Times’ discredited 1619 Project, which posited that America was founded on racism and racism alone.
Just last year, every Democrat in the Senate voted to continue anti-Asian discrimination in college admissions. Liberals likewise are content to move us away from our Founding ideals as they advocate for an ever-expanding federal government.
Increasingly, they seek to flip the fundamental relationship between the American citizenry and bureaucrats in Washington, putting the bureaucrats on top.
Republicans continue to advocate for an agenda which will ensure that every American has a fair shot at success and genuine equality of opportunity becomes a reality.
And we will put in the work to build a more tolerant, inclusive society — not by government discrimination, but by the challenging work of community engagement and trust-building.
In many ways, the modern Democratic Party agenda represents a sea change in the character of American politics. Policy squabbles are as old as D.C. itself — people of good faith can reasonably disagree on a whole host of issues while still broadly supporting the American experiment.
But rarely in our history has a major political party sought to so thoroughly change the institutions that make America unique.
Simply put, Democrats are engaged in a systematic campaign to tear down the institutions of American democracy.
For years, Democrats have argued to abolish the Electoral College, looking to silence the voice of rural states in our presidential elections. Now, their continued dalliance with court-packing and their endorsement of intimidation campaigns against justices threaten the independence of the Supreme Court.
And Democrats flatly violate our Constitution when they seek to empower the president and the administrative state to make wide-ranging policy decisions, from vaccine mandates to student loan forgiveness.
Republicans respect the wisdom of our Founders, heeding their words to ensure that their system stays in good working order.
Each year, the Fourth of July affords us an opportunity to reflect on the American ideal. It beckons us to consider the American story of ever-widening liberty and opportunity.
And it calls on us to rededicate ourselves to the work that is still ahead. I do not claim America is perfect. But undoubtedly, America is great. The task our Founding Fathers left to us — to create an ever-more-perfect union — will never truly be complete.
But the inheritance they left us is worth preserving. And it's worth fighting for.
Paris Dennard is the National Spokesperson and Director of Black Media Affairs for the Republican National Committee. Follow him on Twitter: @PARISDENNARD.
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