|
The
strength of the United States is dissent
Back
in the 1980s during the reign of the Reagan
Era, the United States was in the midst
of the Cold War against the Soviet Union.
Day in and day out Americans were warned
that the "godless Communists"
of the "Evil Empire" were one
push of the red button away from sending
our spacious skies and"amber waves
of grain straight into a nuclear holocaust
from sea to shining sea. During this period,
many politicians vying for office lapsed
into a primitive state of mind in which
they envisioned the world as an outrageously
oversimplified binary system. Propaganda
machines churned out catchy snippets and
sound bites designed to convince the general
public to blindly support state policy.
Leaders offered disturbing statements such
as "You're either with us or against
us" and bumper stickers popped up which
read "America: Love It or Leave It."
Although
we now know that the threat of nuclear obliteration
was grossly exaggerated, and the Soviet
Union has long since been dissolved, the
method of using a psychology of terror to
suppress free speech is still going strong.
Even now, it is not uncommon for small-minded
people to fear independent thinkers and
call them unpatriotic. Those who hold alternative
views on state policy can expect to be denounced
as cowardly, treasonous and un-American.
Additionally, citizens who voice concerns
over injustices within our nation are told
to move to another country. On the surface,
this seems like reasonable advice; if you
do not like it here, go somewhere else.
Unfortunately, such advice betrays the characteristics
of what it means to be an American citizen.
Consider
some of our nation's most famous historical
icons. Once Frederick Douglass and Harriet
Tubman escaped the clutches of their slave
masters, they could have simply relocated
to a free state and retreated into isolation.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
could have moved across the Atlantic and
enjoyed women's suffrage in a faraway European
land.
And
Martin Luther King, Jr. could have left
for a country that did not have laws declaring
that his family members were second-class
citizens.
Instead
of fleeing from an oppressive status quo,
these men and women chose to stand up for
their beliefs, despite the fact that it
meant defying tradition, criticizing government
officials, and even questioning the federal
Constitution. Instead of choosing between
"love it" or "leave it,"
these people proposed alternative solutions
and shaped our country into a model of freedom
in the process. Instead of scurrying away
to a safe haven, they risked their reputations
and their lives to make the United States
a more perfect union. It is directly because
of the brave actions of dissenters that
we witnessed the abolition of slavery, the
achievement of women's right to vote, and
the eradication of state-sanctioned, institutionalized
discrimination.
Why
do people speak out rather than shut up
and move away? Because they are brave. Because
they are patriotic. Because they are American.
Elisa
Herrera is a graduate student in history
and a member of the CSULB Campus Progressives
Collective.
|
