A Jagged Symbol of Equality & Inequality

My friend Ray McMillan introduced me to the Liberty Bell as a perfect object lesson for America’s racial divide. In addressing why “the bell won’t ring,” Ray describes the crack as a perfect illustration for how our distortion of the Christian history of our nation has helped to maintain the racial divide. 

The Liberty Bell rang in celebration of momentous civic achievements or to summon people together for a special announcement. One of these achievements, according to tradition, was the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 8, 1776. It is said that the sound of the Liberty Bell called out to citizens both far and near to join in this heraldic event. 

Rich and poor, well dressed and disheveled came together as a community to hear the words, 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. 

The Declaration’s truth rang deeply within those who heard it, echoing the resonant tones of the bell. For a moment in time, both the Declaration and the bell proclaimed liberty together. Yet fissures, or cracks, in the bell, a reflection of fissures in the conscience of our land, raised the concern of those most closely working with it. 

Attempts were made to bore out the cracks before they developed into something more severe. In 1846, in honor of George Washington’s birthday, the bell rang faithfully for hours until ultimately succumbing to the pressure put on the cracks. The Philadelphia Public Ledger reported that just after noon, the bell split widely on one side, rendering it unringable: The old Independence Bell rang its last clear note on Monday last in honor of the birthday of Washington and now hangs in the great city steeple irreparably cracked and dumb.… 

It gave out clear notes and loud, and appeared to be in excellent condition until noon, when it received a sort of compound fracture in a zigzag direction through one of its sides which put it completely out of tune and left it a mere wreck of what it was. In a city known for brotherly love, a compound fracture proclaimed otherwise. The jagged divide up the side of the symbol for equality and liberty could not be any more profound in its revelation of dualistic realities. There is a gap in the Liberty Bell, a missing point of connection preventing it from ringing clearly with the smooth tones of a complete union—of oneness.