Why the constitution is so important

by Victoria Backle
Staff Writer

We hear it all the time – “unconstitutional” – we heard it all throughout Barack Obama’s Presidency from the right-wing and we will most likely hear it throughout Trump’s presidency from the left. I hear this term, but it has little practical significance without truly knowing what constitutionalmeans.

Much of the Constitution is a how-to of American democracy. It’s the instruction manual of our Congress, Judiciary and Presidency. Our leaders are obligated to adhere to its regulations, but it’s also much more than that. It holds the information we need to be free and informed citizens of the United States of America.

The Amendments to the Constitution, and particularly the first 10, known as the Bill of Rights, are the trials and errors of this country. They are the principles which, instead of constructing the boundaries of our government, protect its citizens from injustices.

As a Caucasian, I live with certain privileges that other minorities in this country live without. I live in a sheltered bubble that need never be penetrated by a racist slur or discriminatory action based on the color of my skin.

On the other hand, as a woman who identifies as a lesbian, I do experience, however minutely, the ping of discrimination. I feel as though I must clutch onto the Constitution as if my very life depends on it. I must protect it, adhere to it and, most importantly, educate others about what it says. It’s a document that was created to protect the freedoms of every American, despite our differences.

Ideally, every one of us is supposed to be equally protected by the Bill of Rights. Every American is supposed to feel as though the Fourth Amendment, the right against unreasonable searches and seizures, is indeed their right. Every American citizen is supposedto be able to vote regardless of race, sex or religion, according to the Fifteenth and Nineteenth Amendments.

We know that this isn’t always respected and rights are some times violated, but if we know what the Amendments of the Constitution guarantee to Americans, we are preserved by our right to execute them.

Perhaps the most profound and definitive phrase in the founding documents of the United States of America is, “We the people.” It is the phrase that characterizes our nation as being a democratic society; a country decided by the people and for the people. Americans have this privilege, one that many other countries in the world have fought and died for.

We the people have the reins on this great nation. We the people have access to our founding documents at any given moment. We the people can debate, fight and tear into each other’s ideals, but at the end of the day, we the people decide.

Our rights, as well as our leaders’ rights, are clearly defined for us, but too often I hear the word “unconstitutional” from people who have no knowledge of the actual Constitution. Know your rights, know your Constitution. If it’s been awhile since you’ve read it, read it again.

America is no nation at all without an informed society and democracy cannot exist without citizens willing and able to participate in it. So, in essence, what the Constitution means to me is the very thing that it protects: it means my freedom to know what it says, my power as an American to enact it and the courage to defend it.

Copyright 2017 The Gayly – January 2, 2017 @ 9:15 a.m.