The element of the American spirit that might differentiate us from other nations is the sense our founders memorialized in the Constitution — that we are seeking a more perfect union.
This idea that we can always get better is woven into the fabric of who we are. And it is a buttress to what should be an enduring American optimism.
Even when the sense of division among us seems as terrible as it has been in a generation, we should think about this and we should look for evidence that we are, as a people, getting better.
Here in Dallas, one example is right before our eyes. Were you aware that — for the first time in the city’s history — the mayor, the city manager, the police chief, the fire chief, the sheriff, the district attorney and both the chief executive and the chairman of the powerful Citizens Council are all black?
Think about that for a moment. Think about that in the context of what it means to be a people striving toward a more perfect union.
No one would seriously pretend Dallas — or any other American city for that matter -- has put our historical racial struggles behind us. This city is still entangled in deep disagreement over whether to remove monuments to a rebellion raised for the purpose of keeping black people in bondage, after all. And that’s to say nothing of the very real legacy of inequality that exists today.
But no one promised us a perfect union. What we were offered in the founding of the nation was the possibility and the hope that the dignity and liberty of each person could someday be fully realized.
The work to bring that idea closer to reality saw sacrifice, suffering and courage generation after generation to push against bigotry, intolerance and hatred. That work has not ended. It will never end.
But today, the most powerful people in local government — the people entrusted with securing the prosperity and safety of Dallas — are people who, a generation ago, would not have been afforded those opportunities based on the color of their skin and who, a century ago, would have been invisible altogether to the society they now lead.
The significance of the moment might also be remarkable in how little remark it has gotten. The milestone wasn’t celebrated. It’s hard to say it was even much noticed.
The people selected for these jobs were selected because voters, or council members, or business leaders decided these are the best people for the critically important jobs they hold.
That would never have been possible if America had not worked to live up to the ideals espoused in the founding.
We are not a perfect country. But there is evidence all around us that we are a good country, where freedom and opportunity are treasured and expanding. We should celebrate that.
