Remember the Ladies…
Today I am thinking of Abigail Adams – by any measure the forerunner of the women’s rights movement. Between 1774 and 1776, her husband and future President, John Adams, was in Philadelphia, a Massachusetts delegate to the Continental Congress. The delegates were working to finalize “The Declaration of Independence“ - which argued and proclaimed the colonies’ self-appointed right to freedom from King George III and British rule.
Abigail Adams was in Braintree, MA, running their farm, making financial investments for their family, and raising their four children. She handled all these responsibilities with acute intelligence and fortitude. Yet, she always found time to correspond lovingly with her husband and to remind him gently, albeit persistently, that women should have the right both to vote and to have formal education.
On March 31, 1776, she wrote: “I long to hear that you have declared an independency. And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.” And on August 14, 1776, she penned this: “If we mean to have Heroes, Statesmen and Philosophers, we should have learned women.”
Almost 250 years later, her words resonate with truths that have been compromised. Women today are learned, but our voices and our representation have been summarily ripped from us by a Court that is beyond extreme.
Last Friday morning, June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court ignored the majority of women and men in this country and brazenly overturned 50 years of Constitutional precedent. In one document, they wiped out women’s privacy rights. Whichever side of Roe v. Wade you are on, we should all be concerned. By stripping women of their rights, the Court has signaled its willingness to attack the privacy rights of us all (https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/justice-clarence-thomas-supreme-court-rethink-decisions-contraceptives-same-sex-marriage/ )
The Court is serving notice that they wield absolute power and will use it as they see fit – no matter whom they offend or harm, no matter the long term impact on people’s lives, no matter what the majority of people believe, and no matter that to achieve their objectives, this Court is eager to abandon the Bill of Rights and Constitutional bedrock.
This is tyranny, not justice. This is not the America our daughters and sons deserve. This is not the America their mothers and fathers envision for them, nor the exemplar that immigrants embrace in their quest for a better life. The future of America is at serious risk of being a dream not only deferred, but a dream crushed under the heel of a Court determined to set itself above both the Executive and Legislative branches of government. This is dangerous.
In “The Declaration of Independence,” the Founding Fathers affirmed the right of a people to self-determination and the freedom to set their own course for governance. Today, we again look to Abigail Adams and the advice she gave to her son, John Quincy: “Great necessities call out great virtues.” We owe it to our children, ourselves, and the future of our democracy to prove her right.
Answer to Unpacking Education, No. 8, Question of the Day:
President Biden assembled the most diverse Cabinet in U.S. history, including one with the largest group of multi-cultural, multi-racial women. The correct answer is a) 11 women who were confirmed to lead several departments or key government offices. In addition, two other women are special advisors to the President. To learn more about these experienced and talented women and their equally qualified male colleagues, please see Joe Biden’s Cabinet and Advisers: The Full List - The New York Times (nytimes.com)