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Change is in the Air--- Will it help our Nation or Hurt it?
America has long been proud of its tolerance and freedom, and has good reason to be. Our nation has developed into a truly free nation and should be proud of this accomplishment. Unfortunately, throughout the course of American history, Americans have not always been as tolerant or free as they could be. Many times in a crisis, Americans have reacted rashly to a situation and have given up their rights in order to obtain “security”. Americans forget that it is in these times that they must more fully embrace their freedom and treasure it. After the attacks on September 11th, infringements on the rights of Americans happened very quickly and with very little debate. These infringements have been detrimental to our society and have brought us to a state of fear. A quote
that sums up the situation Americans find themselves in now was stated
by Justice O. Douglass, a member of the Supreme Court in 1939 during the
term of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He stated, “As night fall does not come
all at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a
twilight when everything seems unchanged. And it is in such twilight
that we all must be most aware of change in the air- however slight-
lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.”[1]
Douglas is warning Americans to watch for change no matter how
insignificant. In today’s situation, a common argument against civil
liberties is “If I am not doing anything wrong, I have nothing to worry
about.” This sentiment misses the point. The question at stake is not
that innocent people have nothing to worry about, the question is should
the government be able to allow us freedoms only when it is convenient? Some of the rights being violated include the right to reasonable protection from illegitimate search and seizure, and the lack of due process of law. New legislation, such as the Patriot Act, aims at making it possible for people suspected of terrorist activities to be held for an undefined length of time without access to a lawyer or their name being released[2]. Also legislation allowing greater ease in obtaining warrants to search homes, personal documents and wiretaps has been enacted. People believe that these new laws allowing law enforcement to broaden wiretaps and searches are necessary for the protection of our nation. However, instead of allowing the government to be more invasive, possibly our nation could work on training our law enforcement differently. These shifts however to secrecy and invasion are unacceptable. Compromising the laws and Constitution is not the way to win the war on terror. If we give up our rights during a tumultuous time, we may lose our ability to receive them back in the future. These infringements are detrimental to our society, because they move our nation in a direction that denies Americans of their most treasured possession, freedom. America, one of the most open and accepting cultures in all of history, has become what it is today because of a drive for the protection of rights. People have died and fought hard for freedom, beginning as early as the War of Independence to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s. The great price paid for our freedom was a gift to us from our ancestors. This gift is too precious to be restricted without serious debate and consideration. The lack of debate during a period when serious legislation was being passed about our futures shows a new mind set in American society. This lack of debate was clearly shown as the U.S.A. Patriot Act was enacted just six weeks following the attacks with very few alterations of the original[3]. The mind set has gone from the cry of Thomas Paine's “Give me liberty or give me death” to “security is most important, even if the nation strays from its principles in the process.” Some find this stance necessary, but enabling abuses of power to happen under legislation will only hurt the country in the long run. Despite all this, we should realize that America has come a long way from its past. That does not mean however that we cannot improve on our situation in the present. Crisis should bring Americans closer and stronger not divided and blaming. For example, racial profiling and mandatory interviews not only send a bad message about ethnic groups to the American people, but also to the world at large. Ajai Bharadwaj, an Indian from Milwaukee comments: "I have been detained at airport security checkpoints numerous times since September 11th including three times during one trip in early 2002. Just because my skin is brown and I have black hair, why should it be assumed that I am much more likely to be an international terrorist? Prior to September 11th I had never been detained at a security check point.” [4] This new tendency in American culture to discriminate and label groups of people is distracting us from our safety. While we are focusing on a stereotype, we may miss another terrorist who is far more dangerous. Al Qaeda has terrorist cells in many countries[5] and it is possible that the next terrorist will not look Arabic. Some ideas
for helping make America more secure are as simple as finding out why
our intelligence is deficient. Instead of investigating these problems
and correcting them right away, our government came out with broad
sweeping security measures that only made it easier for the government
to be more invasive. In order to effectively help our nation in the
future, we need to focus on existing problems in our intelligence
systems and not rashly begin to cut rights of the American people.
These actions are a move toward a more police like state and that is
against everything America has ever wanted for our nation. George W.
Bush said it best when he stated “not to
allow this enemy to win the war by changing our way of life or
restricting our freedoms.”[6]
However, the way things have happened, we should wonder if this is a
reality for America right now.
Civil liberties have always
been taken less seriously in a crisis situation. However, as a country
we have learned that when this happens people are mistreated and the
whole country suffers for it. National Security is a very important
entity, and it is essential now for American’s to look at their
intelligence and question its validity. However, in the long run, the
precedents we set in regards to civil liberties will be remembered and
looked to in the future. It is because of this that liberties must be
protected at all times, especially when our nation is in crisis. As Justice O. Douglass said, the time to worry about change is when it seems subtle and harmless; it is in that time that it can do the most harm. America has improved over the years as a accepting, open, nation. These values should hold strong, even when we as a nation are challenged. Compromising our beliefs is exactly what terrorists would like America to do and we cannot let them win that satisfaction. We should remove legislation that moves us closer to a police state as opposed to a democracy. America must learn from the mistakes we have learned in the past and refuse to repeat them. It is when Americans become intolerant and over-zealous that the nation suffers. |