Today is the anniversary date for two events that warrant our attention. The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on July 28, 1868 – 157 years ago today.
And on July 28, 1932, U.S. President Herbert Hoover ordered the U.S. Army to remove the protesting World War I veterans from Washington, D.C.
To give each of those events their due attention, I will blog about the 14th Amendment today, and I will blog about the “Bonus Army” tomorrow.
The 14th Amendment
Until the recent past, we never heard much about the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and many of us would have been hard pressed to have told you what it was about without looking it up.
Now it is front and center and will be a major issue before the U.S. Supreme Court when they reconvene this fall.
The 14th Amendment is known as “The Birthright Amendment.” It came about immediately after the Civil War to extend citizenship to formerly enslaved individuals; however, the words “formerly enslaved,” “slave,” “slavery,” “Africa,” “African” or any other such qualifiers do not appear in the document.
The Trump Administration wants to abolish the 14th Amendment. Trump claims that it only applies to the people who were slaves prior to the Civil War. If successful in proving that before the U.S. Supreme Court, it will mean that the children of undocumented immigrants will no longer be awarded U.S. citizenship.
That is a major political and legal issue, so it will be incumbent upon the U.S. Supreme Court Justices to weigh all aspects of the matter carefully. Regardless of the Court’s ruling, a lot of people are going to be angry.
People who do not want citizenship to be automatically granted to a baby born on U.S. soil argue that other countries have no such law.
Background information about the 14th Amendment can still be found at https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/14th-amendment.
It’s not just Section 1 of the 14th Amendment that makes Trump uneasy. I imagine Section 3 makes him and some politicians nervous in light of the January 6, 2021, attempted coup.
The text of the 14th Amendment
AMENDMENT XIV
Section 1.
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Section 2.
Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
Section 3.
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Section 4.
The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Section 5.
The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Hurricane Helene Update
12 more miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina have reopened from Milepost 305.2 near Beacon Heights and U.S. 221 to Milepost 317.5 at U.S. 221 near the Linville Falls community!
The Linville Falls spur road, campground, picnic area, and visitor center remain closed, due to hurricane damage.
There were at least 57 landslides across almost 200 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. Recovery has been broken down into three phases. The 12-mile opening last week is one of 12 projects included in Phase 1. When that phase is completed this fall, some 48 miles of the Parkway will have been restored.
Phase 2 includes the repair of 21 landslides in eight areas which are mostly located between Milepost 318.2 and Milepost 323.4, south of Linville Falls. It is hoped that Phase 2 will be completed by the fall of 2026.
Phase 3 is in the planning stage. During that phase, repairs will be made to 23 sites between Milepost 336.7 and 351.9, which lies between Little Switzerland and Mount Mitchell. There is no published timeline for the work to begin or be completed in Phase 3.
I have driven the entire 252 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina many times and its 207 miles in Virginia at least once, but I doubt I will live to see it fully rebuilt.
If you are planning a trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway, you can find current information at https://www.nps.gov/blri/planyourvisit/helene-impacts-and-recovery.htm. Just be aware that most of it in North Carolina is still closed.
As of Friday, of the 1,457 roads that were closed in western North Carolina last September due to Hurricane Helene, all but 34 are now completely open, which is the same as the prior week’s report. The NC DOT reports 42 roads have partial access.
I-40 at the Tennessee line is still lust opened with a total of two lanes and a 35-m.p.h. speed limit. A report I heard on TV last week said it will take years to fully reconstruct the interstate highway.
Until my next blog post
Keep reading everything you want to read – and some things you don’t want to read but need to read.
Remember the people of Ukraine and western North Carolina and the children in Gaza who are starving to death through no fault of their own.
Janet
Janet's Writing Blog 