TUESDAY BLAST FROM THE PRESIDENT:
July 5, 2022
In my “short” or “long” life – whichever you want to say – I have always taken the American flag for granted. It was in every classroom when I was growing up from the Gurney School to the Forest Street School to Junior High to High School. It was a given. And I always assumed that George Washington, who asked Betsy Ross to sew the American flag, had designed it. I just didn’t pay any attention. (It was Francis Hopkinson, signer of the Declaration of Independence who designed the flag. Betsy just sewed it.)
That lack of attention served me well through Viet Nam and the Civil Rights Movement onto the Black Lives Matter Movement. I was alway proud to hang the flag outside when I bought a house. My neighbor and I would hang them off our porches for two separate reasons – hers was because her husband was in WWII and mine because my father and father-in-law were both in WWII as well as a cousin who was in Viet Nam.
I was a proud American. Or so I thought.
Now I come to this year when I am afraid to hang my flag out front. I shudder when I think of June 6, 2021, when I watched the flag being tossed around like a football with no seeming meaning at all. It made me afraid. And that fear is still with me. what has happened to our country?
I was brought up in a Republican family where my father got mad when a man in line in front of us had to pay a tax on a can of cat food. I have never forgotten the look on my father’s face when he said that some people only had cat food to eat. That was the start of a journey for me toward helping others.
But – from the flag to the Constitution. what a leap! “All men are created equal”. Didn’t that include women? We women are born under that flag just as men are. So why now do we have such a disparity?
I read just this morning that rich corporations are to blame for our country’s ills. But it was rich men who wrote the Constitution and they thought they were including everyone. Wonder what they would think if they came back here now.
We have such a divide in this country we don’t know who we are.
And that’s why we need to be in the forefront of the next wave of assaults on our voting rights and our liberties. I’m not afraid of what will happen to me – I’m privileged – I’m white and I’m past my childbearing years. But my granddaughter is not. Your granddaughters and daughters are not. And that scares me.
That is why I want to fight for everyone to have the right to vote the way they choose. In the 60’s it was going to the South to fight for equality and in the 2022’s it is still the same. We need to make sure everyone has the right to vote. that’s why we need to listen to our sisters and brothers from all over this country. We have differences, yes. But underneath we have the same American ideal – to live in peace and harmony and not have others take that away.
that’s why we as members of the League of Women Voters of the Fredericksburg Area need to stand up and make sure everyone has the right to vote. AND the understanding of why they need to vote.
How do we do that? Listen, learn and pay attention.
Help us write the Civics’ Curriculum to take to all corners of our Planning District 16.
I want to be able to fly my American flag again without fear. Without the fear that my neighbor won’t have her car keyed because of a sticker on her bumper. Without the fear that I will turn on the tv and find another schoolroom shooting has taken place, or a simple fun July 4 parade has been disrupted by gunfire and death.
So, join us. Join Sue Botts who, no longer Chair of the Voting Right’s Committee is still out there ready to sign voters up.
It’s easy to get discouraged, but as a TEAM we can do it. We can make a difference and get more than 30% turnout at the polls on election day. Without telling people how to vote – just where to vote.
We have four counties and one city to take care of. That’s a lot of area to cover, but by word of mouth and courage we can do it.
Let’s get our flags our there proudly waving to show that July 4 and the constitution are for “all people”!
The Board will have a schedule out soon – we will be gathering our efforts during July and August so we can come back rested and ready in September. If you have ideas, please let us know. It’s important to get everyone involved.
Peace and health – Cathie
|
|
|
|
|
