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Wouldn't the cardinal mistake be when the constitution was written? The founders never made equality a reality for black people, women, or the poor.
The system has been broken for a long time:

Mississippi’s Legislature is thoroughly controlled by white Republicans, who have redrawn districts over the past 30 years to ensure they can pass any bill without a single Democratic vote. >

a cardinal mistake in the American Experiment. >

Not doing away with the Lost Cause and seditionists through a coordinated national effort after the Civil War ended was a cardinal mistake in the American Experiment.