Hector Irizarry

Date: 9-9-16
5th Period
Mrs.Carroll

Declaration Essay
In Americas history they are remembered as freedom and equality amongst their citizens. A
notable document that shares these given rights is the Declaration of Independence. In lines 8-10 of the
Declaration of Independence states We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal ,
that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights , that among these are Life, Liberty,
and the pursuit of Happiness. These lines show Americas ethos by simply stating that all men all
created equal and the rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness are given and cannot be taken
away. Now in present day America the ethos has changed giving America a different reputation from
what they were previously known for in history as equal and free now they are looked at as fighting for
these rights and some current events leading to this bad reputation is terrorist attacks and discrimination,
black lives matter crimes, and the protest of professional athletes for equality.
The first reason the American ethos has changed is because of recent terrorist attacks and
discrimination of muslims. According to http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/12/us/orlando-nightclub-shooting/
they state that Mateen called 911 during the attack to pledge allegiance to ISIS and mentioned the
Boston Marathon bombers, according to a U.S. official. Orlando police shot and killed Mateen.Mateen's
ex-wife said she thinks he was mentally ill. Mateen carried an assault rifle and a pistol into the packed
Pulse club about 2 a.m. Sunday and started shooting, killing 49 people and wounding at least 53, officials
said. The reason this attack has changed the American ethos is because citizens of not only the U.S. but
around the world hear attacks like these and immediately think of citizens who are of the same religion as
Matteen and instantly develop stereotypes and discrimination among these people. Just because of how
others reacted with the same religious belief which is wrong because not all muslims are bad people and
its not good to assume they are due to taking their rights as human from stereotypes and discrimination.
Another reason terrorist attacks are playing a huge role in changing the American ethos is according to

http://www.history.com/topics/boston-marathon-bombings they state On April 15, 2013, two bombs

went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three spectators and wounding more than 260
other people. In addition, At the time of the bombings, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was a sophomore at the
University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a former amateur boxer, was married
and had a young child. The brothers were Muslims, born in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan in
1986 and 1993. The reason these pieces of evidence show American ethos is not living up to what is
written in the Declaration of independence is because this dreadful attack was also another muslim attack.
Showing that this incident in Boston was just the beginning of the stereotypes of people who are muslim
since this occurred before the Orlando shooting but still already questioned peoples opinions and beliefs
in people who believe in the muslims traditions should be granted citizenship due to all these incidents
that are hurting these peoples views to other citizens showing no equality whatsoever because insane
people in the shootings.
Furthermore, the next reason the American ethos has not lived up to what the founding fathers
guaranteed because of black lives matter crimes. An example given by
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Police-Release-Disturbing-Video-of-Officer-Fatally-Shooting-Ch
icago-Teen-352231921.html they claim In the dash-cam video, which a judge ordered police to release
by Nov. 25, Laquan McDonald first appears about 5 minutes, 16 seconds in, and is seen walking down a
street. The teen, who police say was armed with a knife, walks diagonally across the street, away from
police officers at the scene. Seconds later, an officer opens fire, and McDonald falls to the ground. At that
point, the officer who fired is no longer in view, but McDonald's body appears to jerk repeatedly from
additional gunshots. The reason this shows American ethos has not lived to expectations is because of
incidents like these who many claim was an unnecessary death because even if the teen was armed he did
not resist any arrest or try to attack an officer while the officer then shot him and then shot him multiple
times. Which shows inequality since the officers didnt respect his rights they did not seem to attempt to
less violently hold him down they just quickly shot him which shows how everyone is not free or equal
since the officers assumed that he was harmful and shot him multiple times even if he did not hurt or
resist the officers. Moreover, the other example of American ethos not living up to expectations is
presented by http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32400497 and they state Gray can be heard
screaming repeatedly before a police van arrives to take him away. Ms Mosby said his arms had been
handcuffed behind his back and that his requests for his inhaler had been ignored.Police officers had also
put him into a tactical hold before putting him in the back of the van, she said. Police officials have said
that Gray should have received medical attention before he was put inside the van. While the van was en

route to the police station, officers put Gray in leg irons after an officer determined that he became "irate".
Ms Mosby has said that the officers had then loaded him "on his stomach head first into the wagon." Gray
was not restrained with a seat belt, which is a violation of police department policy. The officers later
failed to get medical help even though Gray requested it repeatedly, Ms Mosby said. The officers then
stopped to pick up another suspect in a separate case while on the way to the police station. Ms Mosby
called the stop "grossly negligent". She said that Gray had asked for medical help and complained of
trouble breathing. Also, "I know that when Mr Gray was placed inside that van, he was able to talk, he
was upset," Mr Rodriguez said. "And when Mr Gray was taken out of that van he could not talk and he
could not breathe."Gray's family told the Baltimore Sun newspaper that doctors at a local hospital
performed surgeries to treat three broken vertebrae and an injured voice box. He was comatose until his
death on Sunday. The reason this evidence supports why American ethos is not showing equality
because based off of Freddie Grays case he was arrested for a switchblade that was thought to be illegal
but ended being legal after the incident and that basically the officers restrained him violently after many
screams and yells to get him his inhaler for oxygen but the police denied the requests and then stuck him
the wagon handcuffed and laying on his stomach while the police drove to another case. Gray must have
injured himself and broke vital parts of his body that killed him, which means that the officers did not
show any sort of equality and quickly assumed because of his skin color he was guilty of an illegal
weapon and was tortured for it which goes against what the founding said to be all men are created equal.
The final reason American ethos has not lived up to what the founding father promised is because
athletes standing up for rights. The first example of these actions are presented by
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000691077/article/colin-kaepernick-explains-why-he-sat-duringnational-anthem they claim San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has willingly immersed
himself into controversy by refusing to stand for the playing of the national anthem in protest of what he
deems are wrongdoings against African Americans and minorities in the United StatesI am not going
to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,"
Kaepernick told NFL Media in an exclusive interview after the game. "To me, this is bigger than football
and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting
paid leave and getting away with murder. This shows the American ethos has not been promised
because it is making athletes stand up for their part of the brutality and abuse african americans and
people of color are getting from previous incidents like stated earlier that people are developing
judgements based off what they hear on people who look same as what they hearing so it develops the
wrong judgement and takes a negative impact on how others are being treated and gives them less

equality to other types of people. The last piece of evidence according to

http://www.espn.com/espnw/sports/article/17558219/us-soccer-midfielder-megan-rapinoe-kneels-again-n
ational-anthem-friendly claiming For the second time in recent days, but the first while wearing the
uniform of the United States women's national team, Megan Rapinoe chose not to stand for the national
anthem prior to a soccer game"We need to look at all the things the flag and the anthem represent and
all the things it means, and is it protecting everybody?" Rapinoe said. "There are people who don't feel as
protected as I do every day. I know it's a time-honored tradition. Especially in a sports environment, it's
something the country is very passionate about, but there is a bigger conversation here that is more
important than sports." The reason this evidence shows the founding fathers promises to equality and
freedom are wrong because its not only one athlete standing up for rights but its many athletes standing
up for the same cause and how most people do not feel they have the same protection as other citizens
which is why athletes in many sports are saying this is bigger than sports because all along we have been
disrespecting what the founding fathers made our flag and country represent and now it is time for a
change.
To conclude people now know why the founding fathers promises of equality and freedom have
not been met is because of terrorist attacks creating the wrong image of muslim people, black deaths that
were not necessary and created a judgement of black people always are up to no good, and last but not
least athletes standing up for the rights of people and equality to make a difference and support the
founding fathers promised ethos of America since their promises of equality and freedom have not been
met by America now.