"The
Personal is Political":
Protecting Our Civil Liberties In A Time of Crises
by
Joann
Natalia Aquino
"While the nation continues to mourn the loss of September 11th, we must also begin to mend the damage done to our civil liberties since this tragedy. With a collective spirit, we must call on our nation’s leaders to ensure that not only is our security assured, but that our civil liberties are also secured and our freedom inviolable... If we’ve learned anything from history, it is that good always prevails over evil. This, we can rest assured on..."
Civil Liberties: “fundamental individual rights, such as freedom of speech and religion, protected by law against unwarranted governmental or other interference.”
As our nation reflects on the anniversary of the tragedy of September 11th, we continue to grieve and remember the loss, as well as celebrate the lives of all the heroes who survived this heartbreak.
9-11, a day we will never forget, has marked a turning point in American history. Nearly one year after the tragedy, much has essentially changed in America, which also resulted in dramatic changes to American law and society. This tragedy has everlastingly transformed the people, our nation, the world; as well as affected and re-evaluated the country’s priorities in almost every arena: in national security, civil rights and civil liberties, and foreign policy. We are now faced not only with a new set of challenges, but also a new set of opportunities. Let us ponder on these opportunities. Opportunities to make changes, changes to favor the uprightness of humanity, and changes for the best interests of all.
Perhaps, the particular concern many people agree on is the protection of our basic civil rights and civil liberties here in America—for citizens and non-citizens, for all human kind. The terrorist attacks on September 11th have mobilized this country in the fight against terrorism. However, the wave of anti-terrorist activities have also launched one of the most critical civil liberties crises our nation has ever seen.
In 1791, James Madison, one of the chief framers of the United States Constitution, prepared twelve amendments, ten of them were ratified, that explicitly provided for individual rights. These rights became known as “The United States Bill of Rights.” The Bill of Rights was created to protect the rights the people believed that, as human beings, were naturally theirs. Thomas Jefferson, who inspired the framing of these rights, also stated, “the Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general, or particular, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.”
The Bill of Rights restricts the invasion of certain individual liberties, including freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion in America. The values embodied in the Bill of Rights focuses on all individuals’ worth and dignity, and surrenders to the inalienable rights that are inherent to us all as human beings and as citizens of a constitutional democracy.
While the nation continues to mourn the loss of September 11th, we must also begin to mend the damage done to our civil liberties since this tragedy. With a collective spirit, we must call on our nation’s leaders to ensure that not only is our security assured, but that our civil liberties are also secured and our freedom inviolable.
If we’ve learned anything from history, it is that good always prevails over evil. This, we can rest assured on.
“Hope has witnessed good prevailing over evil; joy rising out
of despair; calm out of trembling; success out of defeat. It is where
we turn when we have no sure answers. Hope is the well spring of miracles…”
– Anonymous, “Hope Meditation, Words to Live By.”
(Article originally published at Filipino American Herald on March 2002. Republished with permission from the author and Editor-In-Chief of Filipino American Herald.)
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©Copyright 2002. Joann Natalia Garcia Aquino. All rights reserved.
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