Behind the hollow words “America First,” typed across a navy blue cover, is a fiscal document representative of a president who has insulted a prisoner of war, derided a Gold Star family, and spoken brazenly about grabbing women by their genitals.
It should come as no surprise, then, that this man has laid out a national blueprint intent on dismantling our incubators of compassion and decency. For the demagogue thrives on the devaluation of his fellow human beings; it is in his interest to take an axe to the combating engines of empathy and enlightenment that pose a threat to his agenda.
The National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — the very entities that inform our humanity and offer informational truth — now have proposed balances of zero.
To ensure that our children are instilled with the skills of critical thinking and empathy, to act pro-actively so our schools don’t produce another Trump-like demagogue, Oak Park must resist cuts to arts education wherever and whenever they should arise.
On April 4, our community will be presented with an opportunity to remain culturally resilient in the face of fiscal malfeasance and itemized insolvency. To resist, we must vote “yes” on the upcoming District 97 referenda.
To be sure, programmatic viability requires funding. Some will argue that impassioned pleas for the arts must be dialed back to make room for the cold reality of budgetary shortfalls and belt-tightening tax policies. Others will write polemics fueled by well-intentioned grievances with the state. But we must be careful not to impugn our local officials by virtue of their proximity to government.
The fault lies not with the district but at the feet of federal and state legislatures, who for decades have chronically failed to prioritize funding for our systems of public education. Our children should not bear the brunt of political irresponsibility. Should it be fiscally possible, we must prioritize our local capital to remain solvent. We must be defiant.
Our property taxes will go up, but the return will be worthwhile: 145 jobs saved, a culturally vibrant arts scene retained, and an important investment of love in the future leaders of our country will be made.
Johnny Figel
Oak Park