When Great Amendments Outlive Their Era

Is birthright citizenship still a shield for the oppressed, or a tool for exploitation?

From emancipation to immigration — the 14th Amendment has served many, but not always as intended.
Image generated by ChatGPT (DALL·E), commissioned by the author

The 14th Amendment was a triumph of moral courage. Born in the ashes of a brutal civil war, it was designed to recognize the humanity of those once counted as property — and to give them legal standing in the country they built. But even the most righteous laws can become distorted over time. I believe the 14th Amendment is proof that even great things must evolve — or fall. A government that refuses to adapt becomes one of the greatest threats to its own survival.

I didn’t always understand the weight this amendment carried. But I remember being a child, maybe five or six, and hearing my grandfather rant furiously about it. I don’t recall the full context, but I can still hear his voice. His anger wasn’t abstract — it was alive. As we were leaving his house, I asked my dad why Paw Paw was so mad. He mentioned Strom Thurmond and something about filibustering in Congress. I had no clue what any of it meant. But what stuck with me was this: the 14th Amendment mattered to my grandfather. Deeply. It mattered to Black men of his generation in a way I couldn’t grasp back then.

That memory returns now, as I watch this amendment being debated, reinterpreted, and in some cases exploited in…