Excerpt: A Long Walk to Freedom

Once [the teacher] finished, he looked at the class, and asked, “Why do the guerrillas feel that our current administration failed in their duty?”

No one said anything. I certainly could, given how I had been raised, but wasn’t going to risk Father’s and my necks in such an open statement, especially not on the first day of class.

“No one?” He smiled slightly. “You won’t get in trouble for thoughts expressed here. This is just a discussion that is relevant to current events, which come from a basis in history.”

Finally, the guy next to me said, “’Cause they’re idiots?”

“No, they aren’t,” another male said from behind me. “Some of their published letters are based in solid fact.”

“But what about the fact that much of what they’re objecting to is constitutional?” the curly-haired blond girl sitting kitty-corner on my left said.

“If it wasn’t for the thirty-first amendment, it wouldn’t be.”

The teacher- Mr. Summers- broke in, “And what does that amendment say?”

The boy answered, “The Bill of Rights does not exist.”

“The exact wording, please, Jim.”

“’Section One: The first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tend articles of amendment to the Constitution of the United States are hereby repealed for the duration of the emergency. Section Two: The third section of the fourteenth article of amendment is hereby repealed for the duration of the emergency.’”

Mr. Summers’ gaze swept across the class. “Who can tell me why that amendment was passed?”

A female sitting in the back of the room said, “Wasn’t there a bombing or something?”

I could see out of the corner of my eye a couple kids nodding and the teacher’s slight frown. To hell with it. I said, “There was a coordinated protest that ended in a riot in a dozen cities.”

Mr. Summers nodded and said, “What was the protest about?” I shook my head, unwilling to go further. To the class, he said, “It was about several restrictions on the very amendments that number thirty-one repeals. Several bombs were thrown- no one had been able to figure out which side did it- and some people were killed. But for that administration, it was the final straw. That particular amendment was announced three weeks later. Unfortunately, according to the guerillas, forty-nine states ratified it. Alaska was the only one who did not, and still has not done.”

“Are they in trouble for that?”

“No, but Alaska has one of the smallest population. There isn’t much up there of value now. There’s no point in forcing the state government to ratify something that has been in effect for over twenty years. Besides, that might require forces that are currently dedicated to fighting the rebels. Now, what does this tell us about our government?”

I dutifully started taking notes, but kept a silent commentary in the back of my head. What did it tell us about the government indeed?