Local opinion: Strange bedfellows, shared values

As a parent and a Governing Board Member of Tucson Unified, I want to find ways to help our kids feel safer in the face of state violence.

At the TUSD board meeting on February 27, the community spoke up and demanded that we do more. Guided by their input, I called for the creation of a community-led task force to advise us on what is needed on the ground. I also asked that we immediately issue Know Your Rights information to every family in our district, in the preferred language of their home. The problems of the world are on the minds of children. They are scared, anxious, and concerned that their family and friends are going to be hurt, kidnapped, or killed by masked men.

Last week, my daughter and her friends began organizing the student walkout at Dodge Middle School. In spite of their fears of getting in trouble at school, or worse, they decided to do something about the issues at the top of their minds. They don’t have the right to vote yet, so they are doing what they can to make their voices heard. I couldn’t be prouder of all the students at Dodge and throughout Tucson Unified who have taken a stand and exercised their First Amendment rights in the face of the injustices happening in Tucson and throughout the country.

I always quiz my daughter on the five freedoms outlined in the First Amendment, a habit I picked up at some political gathering. That’s how I started getting more interested in the Constitution, how lucky we are to have it, and how once you step on U.S. soil, the majority of the rights outlined therein protect citizens and non-citizens alike.

When you say “First Amendment,” most of us think about freedom of speech, but it also protects freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom to assemble, and freedom to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Today, the most newsworthy atrocities involve the actions of ICE, but history reminds us this is part of a longer pattern, from police brutality to Standing Rock and beyond. Let’s be honest: shocking and horrendous things have been going on in our country since its inception, under the leadership of both political parties. I’ve seen both sides act with cruelty.

But it is shocking that things are getting more and more atrocious each day, and that the rights and protections we once expected as Americans are vanishing before our eyes. So we either watch or we protest in horror. This gross disregard for our fundamental rights is something I hope both sides of the political spectrum can unite around and demand that enough is enough.

That’s why I’m calling for true service and respect for our constitutional rights by all law enforcement agencies, and zero tolerance for those who violate them. I call for all people to be treated with dignity and respect across party lines. I call on elected officials who have the power to dismantle the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to do so immediately. I also want to remind them of the oath they took to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the United States. And I call for all public schools to be safe, welcoming spaces for families seeking asylum.

I call for peace. I call for civility. I call on all of you, Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Independents, constitutional conservatives, Communists, Socialists, Anarchists, or otherwise, to come together and end this madness. We might be strange bedfellows, but we share a common interest in ensuring that our country, its laws, and its law enforcement protect people, not the powers behind the curtain.

Let’s give peace a chance. Let’s unite not only our country but our world. Let’s settle our petty squabbles and call it a day. Let’s forgive and forget. Let’s bring home our sons and daughters from the wars abroad. Let’s grant each other freedom of movement. Let’s finally honor each other’s unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.