Have No Fear, 2020 Is Near!

(John Katz, Editor, The American Dossier)

I am all too sure to be dating myself here. Does anyone remember the old cartoon, Mighty Mouse? Each episode would have a scene in which Mighty Mouse would proclaim along the lines ‘Have no fear, Mighty Mouse is here to save the day!’ No one thinks of a mouse as mighty these day let alone the fruit in perhaps being a humble mouse portrayed with having super human strength. The point of the cartoon was more about the significance of teaching humility.

The reminder for the need for d-i-a-l-o-g-u-e is perhaps a much over repeated theme here at The American Dossier. Much more than that of partisanship, whether it be in politics or life in general.

The road for the 2020 Presidential race has become all to ‘touchy feely this past week. We have heard much banter on Joe Biden and the what seems to be the endless entering of “Not So Ready for Prime Time” Players rather then earnest contenders. Just as the three rules for business are known to be ‘location, location, location,” the forgotten path in politics is the need for ‘dialogue, dialogue, dialogue’. Dialogue and humility are the roads that must be taken by any politician.

It seems to be that this past week in America we have finally openly talked about the ‘danger and taboo’ of inappropriateness and bullying…or have we?

On March 21, 2019, President Trump signed an executive order protecting the freedom of speech on college campuses. More than a political order, this was much needed in reminding us what our forefathers fought for.

We need to be aware of the dangers of indoctrination and not be bullied away from each other in having dialogue.

This is what is pertinent to ponder whether it be politics or for every day coexistence.

Without freedom of speech, there is a lack of room for compromise. It seems that even former President Barack Obama gets that.

As reported in Vox at a town hall organized by The Obama Foundation, he warned his colleagues that even change could only come in steps not by “alienating of potential allies.”

He went on to say that those who would like to see a progressive agenda “have to recognize that the way we’ve structured democracy requires you to take into account people who don’t agree with you.” In regards to change it is also important to understand that we cannot un-change our history, the good, the bad and the ugly

So why do we fear having freedom of speech and dialog so much?

One can’t help but wonder how and why American society has gravitated towards alienating each other with fear. One perspective is that perhaps the process started in our education system.

In a recent article in Forbes magazine on education and standardized testing, "Have we stolen independent thought?," author Peter Greene, ponders:

“Since the advent of "No Child Left Behind", the U.S. has used high stakes standardized tests as accountability measures for schools, districts, and teachers. This has led to a twisting of public education, as schools have reassigned their resources to focus on preparing students to do well on standardized math and reading tests. Music, arts, history, even recess, have been placed on the back burner because they are not on the test.”

He argues that we are conditioning students, not to think, but instead to clear their thoughts and concentrate on following the path followed by the people who wrote the test questions, which clearly can overlap in another area of their lives.

So what does this have to do with our American history and fear of patriotism?

A few years ago The California Interscholastic Federation notified school districts across the state that they ”feared” the “USA” chant used at sporting and school events would be used in a derogatory manner and therefore should be banned because it was leading to ‘bullying.’ There were a lot of patriotic students shocked when they were warned that chanting “U-S-A” at sporting events and pep rallies could appear to be inappropriate and intolerant.

Bullying should not be tolerated; however, society should not live in fear of expressing their enthusiasm for their roots nor should they suppress their patriotism out of fear of offending.

Here are some closing thoughts we are all called to ponder.

Perhaps the greatest secular words spoken about ‘fear’ which came from Franklin Roosevelt in his inaugural address … “The Only thing we have to fear is itself."

At the time we were in in the height of the Great Depression. By saying this, he was telling the American people that their fear was making things worse. He went on to state, “nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."

These very words can be applied to the climate of issues that began with The Great Recession of 2007 and are going on in 2019.

This is indeed something as American individuals that come from different cultures are called to embrace and teach in the present day.

We as Americans are not called to fear and censor. It takes action, not to select the suppression of freedom of speech to stop bullying.

Too much time is wasted on being afraid. We cannot erase past transgressions we can only learn and grow forward.

There are distinct roles of education administrators in government from that of the role of parents and teaching moments.

Frankly, these administrators need to step up on creating an effective curriculum that teaches the history both the good and the bad.

A chant of "U-S-A" can be and is a reminder of our victory and triumph over suppression past and future. We are a society which continues to evolve from our transgressions and committed to healing the wounds and uniting all who chosen to assimilate freely as American citizens.

Yes, there have been atrocities not only in American society but in all human cultures. If wasn’t for the courage of those such as, i.e. Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Martin Luther history would not have evolved. They refused to live in fear and freely spoke up and fought against the wrongs. They were not afraid to speak freely.

We all live in the UNITED States some born here and some who have chosen to be here.

United in that unlike other- countries, we the people have chosen as a Republic (not government) the freedoms to choose differently from our past and not censor it.

For a society that wishes to better embrace inclusion and unity we need to embrace that we are American and individual members of community.

We are not victims of a dictatorship or puppets who are forced to rely on government.

Regardless whether one is God fearing or atheist, in a community there is indeed u-n-i-t-y. Unity to teach the freedom to chant USA and to teach about the history including the good the bad and the ugly.

Furthermore it will take a community, not government to teach the next generation the difference about wrongness of such things that have occurred in history and to not repeat it.

This is why we must be able to think individually with no place for fear in doing so.