It\u2019s going to be Thanksgiving in the United States in a couple of weeks, and that got me to thinking about the people who worked hard and made sacrifices to make sure \u201cwe the people\u201d means everybody. Given the way the current regime is trying to destroy those rights, it seems important to remember how we got them and what we need to do to keep them.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m thinking about these things in the United States because that\u2019s the history I know best and it\u2019s also where rights are under attack right now. But you can find similar histories in many countries.<\/p>\n
Me, I thank the suffragists who made it possible for me to vote and led to many more women in positions of authority. That happened 105 years ago now, which may seem like ancient history if you were born in this century, but doesn\u2019t seem that long ago at all if you\u2019re my age.<\/p>\n
I mean, my grandmothers were born before women could vote in the United States. My mother was born just three years afterwards.<\/p>\n
I also thank the predecessors of the suffragists, the women who organized for their rights back in the 1800s, often working alongside abolitionists. I looked up the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 and discovered that Frederick Douglass \u2013 who was the only African American at the convention \u2013 argued strongly for the inclusion of women\u2019s right to vote, which was why they included it in their statement.<\/p>\n
Douglass\u2019s efforts in this regard are just one reason I think the abolitionist and the later civil rights movement were critical to rights that I have, and that we all share these days.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not really freedom if it\u2019s not freedom for all. The activism that finally implemented some of the rights set out in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments not only expanded the freedom of Black people, but expanded the rights for everyone.<\/p>\n
I also thank unions for my freedoms. I\u2019m personally grateful to the News Guild, my union, which enabled me to retire in reasonable comfort, but I\u2019m grateful in general to all those people who fought for workers\u2019 rights over many years, and who are still hanging in the fight right now. <\/p>\n
Our unions in the United States were weakened \u2013 compare them to those in Europe, where they often shut things down \u2013 even before the current regime came in. But they have done a lot and I think they will do more.<\/p>\n
Now in thanking these people, I\u2019m not blind to their shortcomings. Too many unions discriminated against women and minorities over the years. A few were corrupt.<\/p>\n
And by the way, while women got the vote in 1920, most Black women in the U.S. didn\u2019t get to exercise that right until the 1960s. The suffragists weren\u2019t all that interested in expanding the franchise beyond white women.<\/p>\n
But we still wouldn\u2019t be as far along as we are right now without those efforts.<\/p>\n
Anytime you find an expansion of rights, you find people who worked for that for decades and more. Take marriage equality, which was built on efforts by gay and lesbian activists.<\/p>\n
Take the fact that we have curb cuts at our intersections and ramps to buildings. That was the work of activists for the disabled, as was the Americans With Disabilities Act, which required agencies and businesses to make their properties accessible.<\/p>\n
Again, much of this is still flawed. It\u2019s not like we\u2019ve won all the freedoms we ought to have or that the solutions we\u2019ve gained are close to perfect. But we had made some decent progress before the current regime got in and started dismantling everything.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m pretty worried about the attacks on trans people right now, attacks that are rooted in the same misogyny that denied women the vote and economic opportunities. Black people and women are being pushed out of careers. Teachers are being fired for teaching about gender inequality. And the disabled and people with serious health issues are being told they\u2019re \u201cunfit.\u201d<\/p>\n
We can\u2019t let all the work that was done to develop these freedoms go to waste.<\/p>\n
Let me remind you that this wasn\u2019t and isn\u2019t easy work. Most activists are non-violent, but that doesn\u2019t mean they aren\u2019t met with violence. People died for your rights and freedoms, and not just in wars. The people who get killed in those efforts \u2014 most of whom were not killing others \u2014 are true heroes.<\/p>\n
So while we\u2019re thanking people for what they do, let\u2019s thank the people who put their lives on the line so that we could vote, make a living, get an education, get health care, get a decent place to live.<\/p>\n
And try to do our part to make sure those things continue and that everyone gets their share.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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