A Real Deal
We have in the US over 400 years of injustice in our country. Native Americans, African-Americans, and more recent immigrants have all been abused. We have taken advantage of them for the benefits of mainstream Americans at the time.
What was this mainstream? Initially it was immigrants to Massachusetts and Virginia. Over time, we added Irish, Germans and Italians and, more recently Latinos and Asians. All of these immigrants faced challenges, but eventually held their own, except for the Native Americans and Afro-Americans. They have yet to catch up. Reservations and plantations were not good launching pads.
We have portions of our population that are hopelessly behind the other segments of our population. Mentoring and financial incentives can help but will not broadly compensate for centuries of second-class citizenship. This is not a problem amenable to quick fixes. A systemic change is needed.
We need to invest broadly in health, education, housing, etc. to steadily increase the levelness of the playing field — the living field. This will be costly, but all these costs will create jobs and opportunities for health workers, teachers, construction workers and all the others that support them with supplies, services, food and so on. We did this with the New Deal during the Great Depressions.
This new initiative could be called a Real Deal because it would provide all citizens what the Constitution really proclaims. Everyone would really be equal and really have unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Everyone would have access to the resources needed to be healthy, educated, and productive. They would be ready for opportunities.
