“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all 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 words that launched our nation’s improbable experiment in democracy, setting our nation’s course toward liberty and justice for all, were drafted and ratified by men who contributed to the evils of slavery, America’s original sin.

Yet they outlined a story of a people beyond their original conception, with their ideals inspiring generations of African-Americans to dare to carve out, in the face of institutionalized and often brutal racism, a place for themselves in the history of an unfamiliar land and unforgiving society.

We stand on the shoulders of those giants who held firm to that daring resolve, fighting for and following these truths to define through their struggle and shared determination a more complete American story that included them and their loved ones.

We stand on the shoulders of ancestors who looked to the heavens and prayed for the strength to fight for the liberty they knew was their stolen birthright, before sprinting under cover of night to follow the North Star toward freedom.

We stand on the shoulders of generations who fought to hold on to their dignity under the hateful eye of Jim Crow; who reached for the great American equalizers of the ballot box and a good education and were met with the threat of genocide and a wave of fear.

We stand on the shoulders of everyday Americans who were subjected to clubs and hoses, to spitting jeers and snapping hounds; who were brutalized on Freedom Rides and those who marched on anyway from Selma to Montgomery to shine a light on the evils of racism in our country.

We stand on the shoulders of a dreamer who followed that North Star, quoting these words at the 1963 March on Washington and challenging a nation to live out the true meaning of its creed.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all are created equal.”

These words were front of heart and mind in the struggle to pass the long-overdue Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. They inspired Shirley Chisholm to run for Congress and then to aspire to the nation’s highest office; words that paved the way for our 44th president, Barack Obama, to be elected the leader of a nation that just 50 years prior would have denied him the right to vote.

In our 400-year journey from our ancestors’ subjection to the subhuman conditions of American slavery, we have made great strides toward a “more perfect union” — toward a more inclusive, “We the People,” than our founding fathers could ever have conceived. Yet, we still have so much more to build — so much farther to climb.

Shackles don’t have to be made of iron to hold people back. Black children are much more likely to attend underachieving schools, to live in low-income neighborhoods, to be victims of crime. Black women are more likely to die in childbirth, while young African-Americans perish at the hands of law enforcement. In an already tough economy, black families are having a harder time getting loans, putting savings away and getting promoted at jobs.

We must choose to look beyond the acknowledgment of explicit racist bias and commit to addressing the systemic inequality that informs these issues. While most Americans today agree that we are all created equal, too many of us are unwilling or unable to acknowledge that we do not all start our lives with the equal resources, assets and opportunities that our dedication to a “more perfect union” demands.

We must all shoulder the responsibility of writing the next chapter in the legacy of our great nation, of creating a more perfect union that belongs to all of us; where everyone has a place at the table; where every child has access to world-class educational opportunities and where our Muslim citizens and immigrants feel safe; where refugees are welcome and black and brown bodies are not disproportionately targeted by law enforcement; where trans and non-binary people can use the restroom in peace and where our commitment to workers’ rights is strong.

We must ensure the prosperity of America extends beyond corporate barons to include more of those who have been sys- temically pushed to the margins. And we must demand that our institutions break down the barriers that persistently keep the playing field for the marginalized tilted against them, setting us back from tangibly achieving the equality promised by the Constitution.

I ask everyone to recommit to working to create a truly fair and equitable society where skin color is not the dividing line. And I pledge to work toward that goal every day in Congress on behalf of Virginia’s 4th District.

The writer is an attorney and ordained minister who has represented Virginia’s 4th Congressional District, which includes Richmond, Petersburg and parts of Henrico, Chesterfield and several other cities and counties, since January 2017.