A letter of apology to the Founding Fathers.

Dear Founding Fathers,

You don’t know me, but I know you all through your writings and many books written about you. I know you the most through the constitution that you crafted.

I admire you, though I realize you were human with many faults. Some rather stark. Jefferson, how could you reconcile yourself writing such inspiring words that all humans are equal and yet keep slaves? George Washington, you also kept slaves.

Still, I admire what you all write about “toleration.”

You write that you are creating a nation where in some distant future even a “Moslem” (sic) could sit at the head of the table. You write as if there are no Muslims in the U.S. at that time. I bet some of your slaves may have been Muslims. After all, many of the slaves were from western Africa that had large Muslim populations.

And yet you were able to imagine a free nation that was just and that protected civil and human rights — “A republic, if you can keep it,” as Benjamin Franklin is said to have described it.

When I first arrived in the U.S., I was so taken in by the freedoms that I felt slightly intoxicated. I was impressed by the tangibles, the wealth in the society, but even more so by the intangibles. The freedom to speak and write and debate and practice one’s faith any which way you liked. The freest were the universities. These were sanctuaries of debate and discussion. Nothing was sacrosanct. There were no sacred cows.

In my new country, I felt secure. There was a general sense of law and order. Pluralism was in the air. I could stand in the lobby of my hospital and in just a few minutes see folks of every faith and culture pass by in a heartening caravan of inclusivity. In the hospital ecosystem, there was compassion, dignity and equality, absent of class and race distinctions.

I was amused by the perpetrators on TV dramas always taking “The Fifth.” But I came to realize this was an important check on the state intruding on the rights of the individual. Home was a sanctuary; no one could be arrested without a proper cause approved by the judiciary. The Fourth Amendment was taken seriously as was habeas corpus and speedy trial.

Over time, I realized my initial impressions may have been a little too Pollyannaish. Life outside the hospital was not so utopian. It dawned upon me that I may have been living the life akin to that of a South African “honorary white,” in that erstwhile apartheid nation. Yet, the arc of my nation was reaching for a just and fair play.

Which is why the current trends in the country I love sadden me. This is why I am writing this apology.

Top on the list are attacks of freedom of expression in universities and elsewhere.

The suppression of dissent by students, both citizens and foreign, is unprecedented. Students have been arrested, kicked out of their universities, become targets of doxing. Professors have been reprimanded and have resigned. University rules have been rewritten and reinterpreted and curricula have been changed to please the big-money donors and the state.

Now comes the spectacle of black-clad, masked agents in military style outfits, riding in unmarked cars, grabbing people off the streets, parking lots and even immigration offices. The undocumented, those in the process of getting the right documents and even citizens are the targets because of their skin color. Immigration at the borders has been shut down but at what cost? Couldn’t there be a better, more humane option.

My dear Founding Fathers, the very fundamentals of the Constitution you crafted are being ignored.

One of the political parties, the Republicans, are so scared of losing their base and their primaries that they have been completely silent. Maybe they genuinely like what is going on in our nation. The other party, the Democrats, have squeaked a bit when they should have roared. It is like they are touching up the paint on the walls when the roof is coming down.

The main electronic and written media have been submissive, and some have been literally bought out by billionaires with political agendas. Federal judges are the last guardrail.

So here I am wondering if you have any words of wisdom you can share with me?

The carafe from which I drank the heady wine of freedoms of speech and religion, and fairness and inclusivity and toleration and law and order, is nearly empty.

But there is still hope with upcoming midterm elections, only if we elect candidates, regardless of party, who support the basic tenets of the Constitution you gave us.

• Javeed Akhter is a physician and freelance writer from Oak Brook.