Evelyn Beatrice Hall (1868-1956) coined the famous phrase: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Since my teens, I have admired this uniquely American notion. Tolerance of difference, even the celebration of differences, is one of the most foundational and demanding notions of the American idea.
In the wake of the Pittsburgh shootings, this idea is more important than ever.
We are living in uncomfortable times. History will judge us harshly. It will be a tale of a president whose pivot point is the economy, who sees all other issues through that lens. Immigrants, according to him, don’t strengthen us; they take our jobs, health care and education without being legally deserving.
I want this president to rise above his economic comfort zone and risk being uncomfortable. It will take many pounds of leadership to look the NRA in the eye and have the courage to say, “No more military-grade weapons for public sale.” I understand this will not eliminate violence born of hate and bad guys will continue to acquire weapons. But I believe common-sense gun legislation will make a dent in this terrible risk of freedom.
Our unique American experiment depends on diversity to strengthen our notions of justice and liberty. It is only in the test of diversity that we find the truth of difference: When we accept, enfold and celebrate difference, we become more powerful, not less. Differences give us new ideas, new solutions to old problems, and the gift of new points of view.
The American experiment, where anyone has a chance to create their best life, no matter where their great-grandparents emigrated from, has proven true. Go back far enough and you realize that all of our ancestors walked out of Africa to populate the world’s continents. We are all immigrants.
Tolerance is not baked into the human condition. Tolerance (and intolerance) is taught, by example and by words, by parents and aunts and uncles and neighbors and friends. We must, must recall the phrase “e pluribus unum” (out of many, one) printed on our money so we don’t forget it. We must defend the right to be different, to be gay, to be Jewish, to be liberal or conservative, to have a different shade of skin color. The fabric of America is a weave of threads different in length, color, and texture. The result is visionary and wonderful.
Like flu shots, we know that voting is good for us and the community at large, but voting requires an effort. In 2016, less than half of the American electorate (41%) hauled themselves off their couches and into a polling place to take advantage of this civic privilege.
But today is different. In light of the infection of mass shootings in our country, there is one thing we all can do no matter what or who we agree with.
We can vote.