Our View: 250 years of tolerating differences, protecting rights
Two Community Voices articles published recently in The Californian highlighted why America's democracy is such a treasure. As we observe the nation's 250th birthday, it is appropriate to reflect on that.
Shellena Heber, executive director of the Valley Center for the Blind, commented on the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce Beautiful Bakersfield awards.
"There are moments when a community pauses - not to look at what divides it, but to celebrate what brings it together," she wrote, noting that the theme of this year's awards, "The Sound of Our City," shined "a light on the people, organizations and quiet acts of service that define who we are as a community. … a city that shows up, that gives back, and that continues to invest in its people."
Heath Niemeyer, Cal State Bakersfield's vice president for university advancement, wrote about his daily workouts along the Kern River Bike Path.
"What began as exercise has become something else for me," he wrote. "The more miles I logged, the more I realized the trail captures, in miniature, the best of what Bakersfield and Kern County can be for all of us.
"Everyone moves at a different pace and for different reasons, but most people share one habit. A nod. A smile. A small wave. A simple acknowledgment that says, ‘I see you.'
"We spend a lot of time focusing on what divides us. Like the Kern River Bike Path, we are all unique. We all change with the seasons, yet somehow still stay set in our ways.
"People on the trail remind me that we can step out of our comfort zones and make connections with people in this city and county that we share," he wrote. "It begins with a nod. A smile. A raised hand. A simple act of recognizing the humanity of the person passing by."
The brilliance of our forefathers in crafting such documents as the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution, with its Bill of Rights, recognized our common goals, as well as our differences. They enshrined the right to disagree and criticize the government in an effort to make us a more perfect nation.
We often forget that. With the constant badgering of politicians and 24/7 news coverage that focuses on our differences, we forget to tolerate and even celebrate those differences. We dismiss the courage and sacrifices of our forefathers, who invested in the concept of tolerance.
Rejecting the authority of a tyrannical ruler thousands of miles away and demanding self-government, our visionary forefathers created a country with the core belief based on free and fair elections of our leaders.
In this 250th anniversary year, critical midterm elections are underway. As we cast ballots for local, state and federal offices, what advice would Washington, Jefferson, Adams and the others give us?
Revolutionary War general George Washington, our first president, limited his service to only two terms. In his 1796 presidential farewell speech, he sounded a warning that is especially relevant today.
"However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people..."
To some, elections are mere "blood sport" - my team beats your team, one political party beats the other.
It's easy to be taken in by that simplicity and, as Washington warned, taken in by the "cunning, ambitious and unprincipled."
We are better than that. We must be better than that. Elections are not sport. They are the serious business of electing competent, honest and ethical people to represent us and not just serve themselves.
In this 250th anniversary year, we should heed the better words of the Rev. Raphael Warnock, U.S. senator, Georgia, and Baptist pastor. When casting a ballot, make your vote "a kind of prayer about the kind of world you want to live in."
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