Why celebrate this “separate but equal” policy?

by Rob Roper

It’s the twenty-fifth anniversary of Vermont passing the first in the nation civil unions law back in 2000. Not marriage, mind, you. Something separate but supposedly equal. But if that were true there would have been no need to pass another law legalizing gay marriage in 2009. So, why are politicians, journalists and social justice warriors celebrating an event that codified same sex unions as different and lesser than heterosexual marriages?

Shouldn’t we be denouncing politicians like former Rep. Bill Lipert (D-Hinesburg) and Tom Little (R-Shelburne) for their parts in successfully pushing through what was essentially a Jim Crow era for gay couples? If there were statues to these folks, shouldn’t we be tearing them down lest we be painfully reminded of the injustice of their legalized homophobia? Isn’t it time to erase this disgraceful chapter of our history? Where are the mobs of campus protesters?

Or maybe, just spit-balling here, it makes sense to celebrate a step in the right direction even if it doesn’t make it all the way to the final destination. Maybe we should give credit to folks who were ahead of their time, even if they are, by today’s standards, behind our own time. Maybe we should applaud those who accept half a loaf if that’s the best they could do at that point. After all, without every step between point A and point B, without all the separate slices of bread making up the loaf, he totality of the goal would never be reached.

I say all this in light of another anniversary just celebrated: the 249^th of our Founding Fathers declaring independence from Mother England. In that Declaration, Thomas Jefferson wrote and fifty-five of his peers joined him in signing a document stating,

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed….

In the course of human events, to steal another line, that was a remarkable slice of the loaf of equal justice. True, Jefferson was a slave holder, as were many of the other signers. So was pretty much the whole world at that time. But without all of those (now) dead white men taking this step – the first step of setting a moral and legal expectation of universal equality – the ultimate abolition of slavery might never have taken place or at least been pushed tragically farther into the future. The same can be said of universal suffrage, and, yes, even gay marriage. The challenge to live up to that standard in our Declaration of Independence is the foundation for just about every civil rights argument and victory in our nation’s history.

So, no, the United States was not founded on slavery, but quite the opposite. Our founding marked the first step on the path to ending it because Jefferson et al, though not perfect by our standards, was ahead of his time. And we should celebrate him and all the other signers of the Declaration of Independence for that. Moreso, we should be thankful.

Jefferson’s frienemy John Adams, a staunch Massachusetts abolitionist, and his allies accepted half a loaf when the Constitution allowed slavery to continue in the Southern states but banned the international slave trade. They also established the Bill of Rights. Two (or eleven depending upon how you want to count) more steps in the right direction.

Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was yet another step for which the fourteenth president deserves praise and historical respect, despite some other proclamations on race and slavery that weren’t quite as enlightened by our twenty-first century standards. It paved the way for the 13^th Amendment officially abolishing slavery, another majorly important step. And more steps followed, like the Civil Rights Act of 1964, pushed by Lyndon Johnson who, by today’s standards and even possibly his own, was a racist. Still, give credit where credit is due.

There are more steps than I can list here and I’m sure there are more to come because who’s to say where we are today is a final destination and not just another stop on a never ending cultural journey. Who knows how and on what issues we’ll be judged by our great great grandkids, so maybe it’s worth trying to bake a little cosmic karma into the future history books by cutting our great great grandparents some slack for being products of their time and place, and giving credit, praise, and maybe a statue or two to those who were ahead of their time and forged the path to the unarguably better – much better; dare I say greatest in the world — country they built for us.

It’s easy to excrete on someone’s head when you’re standing on their shoulders. But it’s a darned ungrateful — and particularly unjust — thing to do. So Happy Birthday, America (a couple of days late)! And thanks for everything.

TUNE IN EVERY TUESDAY 9-11 AM to hear me host Vermont Viewpoint on WDEV. AM 550, FM 96.1, or to live stream CLICK HERE. July 15th when my guests will be Hon. Tom Koch of the Washington County Republicans and Leslie Hiner of EdChoice.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Here is the podcast of my July 8 Vermont Viewpoint broadcast taking on Friday host Kevin Ellis. LISTEN HERE. Feedback welcome, as well as suggestions for topics and guests!

ON ANOTHER NOTE: Some folks have asked me if I have a website for my artwork. I do not, but just started a dedicated Facebook page for it. If you’re interested, check it out HERE. I know I’m biased, but it’s a lot better than Hunter Biden’s stuff!

Happy Independence Day!

Rob Roper is a freelance writer who has been involved with Vermont politics and policy for over 20 years. This article reprinted with permission from Behind the Lines: Rob Roper on Vermont Politics, robertroper.substack.com