LADY LIBERTY’S CHAINS - AMERICA’S HISTORIC PROMISE

The cover of Time magazine marks the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence - America’s 250th birthday - with a graphic styling of the Statue of Liberty, adorned with iconic reminders of 250 years of American “movements, moments, and ideas”.

It’s easy to walk through these icons and note what’s missing - but we have to pause, once every century or so, and give some thought to what is there. As much as there remains to be done, much has been accomplished. The cover notes jazz, the Model T, the film industry, the moon landing, and our National Park System. It also recognizes anti-war protests, the Civil Rights movement, and Occupy Wall Street.

The statue is itself a statement of America’s promise - and its struggle. The feet of Lady Liberty are adorned with broken chains, a reminder of the slavery that is America’s original sin and a symbol of how America broke free of slavery only through a war of neighbor against neighbor.

That’s America - a record of great achievements and a record of struggle to overcome our flaws and faults. Perhaps that struggle is our greatest achievement - but there is no struggle without first admitting to our faults.

To the Time magazine cover artist, the Statue of Liberty represents "the promise of pluralism in a more fair and just society." The struggle to achieve, despite our flaws, is our promise - like Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, and Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have A Dream” speech.

Like the Democratic Creed itself. It’s a declaration of what we believe, as Democrats, as Americans. It’s also a promise to do more, to do better - to achieve, through struggle, our American dreams and ideals.