When it comes to being thankful, I am keenly aware that the credit for any measurable success in my life is due in part to the acts of “others” than came before me. Today, we are the “others” whose acts must make available success to future generations. This responsibility does not fall on our government leaders. It falls on every citizen aged 18 and over eligible to elect government leaders that will discern and act when civil and personal liberties are threatened. When leaders fail, they must be replaced for the common good. Sometimes the role of ordinary citizen must go to the next level for the common good.
Whether in a military uniform or standing in front of a public school classroom, citizens are the key to preserving a nation constituted from an ideal of a perfect union. We are a nation with a solid document written to guide our Union for almost 230 years. The United States Constitution has passed the test of time given that it has been amended only 27 times in 201 years (First amendment, 1791). The most significant amendments have been precisely about liberty. The 21st amendment was certainly significant to my right to full citizenship as a woman.
As families gather on Thanksgiving Day in homes with bountiful or meager trimmings, not many will be out of touch with how life has changed since 2001. Still, I believe, all will find cause to give thanks. I also believe that citizens will not give up hope for better and safer times. They will not give up hope because American history tells how we are a nation that has overcome. What is lost is the force behind this history of overcoming. The Civil Rights Act of 1968 was not passed because no one acted. Women did not get the right to vote because no one acted. Slavery was not abolished because no one acted. The right to vote without regard to race or color was not constitutionally guaranteed because no one acted.
If we are to proceed with the ideal of a perfect union, then we must work towards asserting our citizenship in the United States of America. Is this a call to action to elect a Texas Democratic majority in 2006? I assert it is a call to make Texas representative of its entire people. The registered voter population of Texas is over 12.5 million. This holiday season, as you walk through the malls and grocery stores, realize that if you vote the person to your left and the person to your right does not.
Perhaps citizens this Thanksgiving Day will give thanks to living in a country guided by the ideals of a perfect union. I believe most will give thanks to God. I join those who give thanks to God. I give thanks to those who will act in the pursuit of a perfect union.
In thanksgiving,
Maria Luisa Alvarado