Zócalo Public Square

Open a newspaper in America today, and you'll find a host of issues--from policing problems to the rising income gap--that are connected by one issue: equality. But our politicians rarely use this word; they, and most Americans, prefer to talk about freedom. Political philosopher Danielle Allen, winner of the 2015 Zócalo Book Prize for Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality, explained why the country has oriented itself toward freedom over the past century, and how the Declaration of Independence can help Americans relearn how to talk and think about equality.