Ricky Watson of Littleton, Colorado wipes tears from his eyes after he thanked President Barack Obama for repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” at a campaign rally in Golden, Colorado, September 13. Watson was kicked out of the Air Force 25 years ago for being gay.
I’m pretty sure we can agree that this is a representative moment of the phrase “A More Perfect Union.”
- RH
(via barackobama)
July 28, 1868: 14th Amendment Officially Declared In Effect
On this day in 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, after having been ratified by the necessary 28 out of 37 states at the time, was declared by the Secretary of State as part of the supreme law of the land. The amendment guaranteed citizenship to anyone born in the United States and prohibited states from denying citizens (including former slaves) of the right to life, liberty or property without legal cause or reason.
Check out other equal rights victories during the Jim Crow era in this “Rise and Fall of Jim Crow” timeline.
Photo: NARA (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)
