Steven LaChance Blog

Examining the gap between the Constitution’s ideals and lived reality

Many will tell you the United States is a great country. In some ways, they are not wrong. There is a difference between the ideals written on paper and the reality lived by its people. For some, especially those who are white, straight, and Christian, America has felt safe, prosperous, and even glorious. For others, it has always been a nightmare, and that nightmare is growing worse by the day.

My response to those who want to lecture me is simple. Unless your right to exist and to love has been used as political leverage in every election, you have no right to tell me how to feel. Unless you have watched neighbors and friends vote for leaders who attack you at the core of who you are, you have no right to tell me how to feel about it.

The idea of America, and the Constitution that defines it, is solid. The words are powerful, even beautiful. But the truth is that the country has never lived up to them. All men and women have never been equal. All people have never been accepted for who they are and who they love. All religions and ideologies have never been welcome. For a time, it seemed as if we were trying to move toward that promise, inching closer to something better. Now we are sliding backward down the hill at a terrifying pace.

Unless you are white, straight, and Christian, you are not equal in America. That is the reality. It is not only fair to call it out, it is necessary. There is no great country here, not for me and not for others like me. For us, it has always been a place of struggle, a nation that leaves us feeling as though we are constantly on the outside, targeted, and yes, neglected.

We hope America will one day become what it was meant to be. I know I will not see it in my lifetime, yet I carry the hope that my children and grandchildren will inherit that day.