Like all lawyers, I’ve read many a Learned Hand opinion in law school but never heard of this speech. Thank you for bringing it back to light, it does bring tears to your eyes and speaks so strongly to our present moment. We rise or fall together.
What a terrific article! Learning history can invigorate our present. I imagine this beautiful late Spring day - sunshine, trees green after the winter's gloom, the park alive with a million and a half (!!) people taking a break from work, from worries about family in the service, from rationing & war effort... and celebrating, welcoming the official arrival 150,000 new fellow citizens. May that spirit find more of our hearts today!
I love how you contrast our imperfect efforts at the Founders' vision with the idealism that brought those new Americans to the moment - whatever travels they'd made, their risks, their effort, what they'd left behind, whatever prejudices greeted them in the US - all to make a new home here. The ideal that one need not be born in a certain place, or to a certain family or race, or at a particular income level... that was for an old world they chose to leave behind. They heard America call with a belief in freedom and opportunity to rise. Absolutely an imperfect destination, "the broken promised land" as Ry Cooder named it (Across the Borderline). Yet they chose. And they took the leap.
Like all of our immigrant predecessors, the 150,000 that day were about to roll up their sleeves and put their backs into whatever contributions they were now to make in our shared national journey. I'm sure for many, the next thing they signed after their citizenship documents was their induction papers or buying war bonds. Because they came here "to carry the spirit, not just salute the flag... struggle between our ideals and our failures" - not just to grasp to hold on to what we had at that moment but to move us all FORWARD.
Many thanks to Mike and George Conway. I only wish that I could vote for Conway. He’s paid an enormous price for his patriotism. Mike Madrid always fires me up with his enthusiasm, knowledge and love for America. Mike articulates so well, that even the least aware of us can get a grip on politics.
Wow, Mike. Thanks for activating the nerd in me. Listened to George’s speech- it was excellent.
George quoted this from Judge Learned Hand’s speech also, “What do we mean when we say that first of all we seek liberty? I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws and upon courts. These are false hopes; believe me, these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it.”
The Learned Hand speech goes on to say, “And what is this liberty which must lie in the hearts of men and women? It is not the ruthless, the unbridled will; it is not freedom to do as one likes. That is the denial of liberty, and leads straight to its overthrow. A society in which men recognize no check upon their freedom soon becomes a society where freedom is the possession of only a savage few.”
Very thoughtful piece, thank you. Learned Hand was one of the greatest jurists of the 20th century. I only take issue with his remark that “Some of us have chosen America as the land of our adoption; the rest have come from those who did the same.” Ancestors of enslaved Americans do not come from people who have chosen America as their home, though we may—and overwhelmingly do— regard America with the same fierce devotion as those whose ancestors adopted this country freely.
Beautifully written Mike. America has been on a path to democracy, which will always be a work in progress. Our country was founded on freedoms for the few, not the many. The dream expanded through hard work and persistence and was extended to more Americans, women, slaves, and immigrants. It did not just happen by being present, it was earned through struggle. From the founding fathers to present day the one constant has been freedom is earned. While mistakes have been made, some quite serious, we have emerged from these challenges stronger as a nation. We understand that injustice for one person is a loss of freedoms for all. Martin Luther King’s profound words: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” The American I see is no longer silent. Our friends are our neighbors, the stranger, who ever is in need. We are waking up and speaking up.
Like all lawyers, I’ve read many a Learned Hand opinion in law school but never heard of this speech. Thank you for bringing it back to light, it does bring tears to your eyes and speaks so strongly to our present moment. We rise or fall together.
What a terrific article! Learning history can invigorate our present. I imagine this beautiful late Spring day - sunshine, trees green after the winter's gloom, the park alive with a million and a half (!!) people taking a break from work, from worries about family in the service, from rationing & war effort... and celebrating, welcoming the official arrival 150,000 new fellow citizens. May that spirit find more of our hearts today!
I love how you contrast our imperfect efforts at the Founders' vision with the idealism that brought those new Americans to the moment - whatever travels they'd made, their risks, their effort, what they'd left behind, whatever prejudices greeted them in the US - all to make a new home here. The ideal that one need not be born in a certain place, or to a certain family or race, or at a particular income level... that was for an old world they chose to leave behind. They heard America call with a belief in freedom and opportunity to rise. Absolutely an imperfect destination, "the broken promised land" as Ry Cooder named it (Across the Borderline). Yet they chose. And they took the leap.
Like all of our immigrant predecessors, the 150,000 that day were about to roll up their sleeves and put their backs into whatever contributions they were now to make in our shared national journey. I'm sure for many, the next thing they signed after their citizenship documents was their induction papers or buying war bonds. Because they came here "to carry the spirit, not just salute the flag... struggle between our ideals and our failures" - not just to grasp to hold on to what we had at that moment but to move us all FORWARD.
Beautiful commentary!
Many thanks to Mike and George Conway. I only wish that I could vote for Conway. He’s paid an enormous price for his patriotism. Mike Madrid always fires me up with his enthusiasm, knowledge and love for America. Mike articulates so well, that even the least aware of us can get a grip on politics.
it is some contrast between hand and roberts, roberts would not be entitled to tie his shoelaces
Wow, Mike. Thanks for activating the nerd in me. Listened to George’s speech- it was excellent.
George quoted this from Judge Learned Hand’s speech also, “What do we mean when we say that first of all we seek liberty? I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws and upon courts. These are false hopes; believe me, these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it.”
The Learned Hand speech goes on to say, “And what is this liberty which must lie in the hearts of men and women? It is not the ruthless, the unbridled will; it is not freedom to do as one likes. That is the denial of liberty, and leads straight to its overthrow. A society in which men recognize no check upon their freedom soon becomes a society where freedom is the possession of only a savage few.”
Mike - The speech was at The University of Washington.
Oops. Thanks Arlene!!
Thank you for sharing this inspiring piece.
Very thoughtful piece, thank you. Learned Hand was one of the greatest jurists of the 20th century. I only take issue with his remark that “Some of us have chosen America as the land of our adoption; the rest have come from those who did the same.” Ancestors of enslaved Americans do not come from people who have chosen America as their home, though we may—and overwhelmingly do— regard America with the same fierce devotion as those whose ancestors adopted this country freely.
Mike, that was fantastic! Thank you.
Beautifully written Mike. America has been on a path to democracy, which will always be a work in progress. Our country was founded on freedoms for the few, not the many. The dream expanded through hard work and persistence and was extended to more Americans, women, slaves, and immigrants. It did not just happen by being present, it was earned through struggle. From the founding fathers to present day the one constant has been freedom is earned. While mistakes have been made, some quite serious, we have emerged from these challenges stronger as a nation. We understand that injustice for one person is a loss of freedoms for all. Martin Luther King’s profound words: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” The American I see is no longer silent. Our friends are our neighbors, the stranger, who ever is in need. We are waking up and speaking up.
This was such an amazing speech. Thank you for bringing it to our attention. I have shared it widely.