By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
JULY 23, 2019 | It was the way that President Trump went about trying to deport people that bugged me. He made several announcements and pronouncements well in advance that on a certain Sunday there would be raids to “send ‘em back” to their home country.
This caused great fear among people, many of them working steadily for their citizenship, fearful that they somehow would be caught up in this rush to judgment, and be deported.
It was the “fear factor” that concerns me. If you really want to intervene and return people to the country they came from, why announce it in advance? Simply without any advanced publicity, immediately start rounding up people and try to deport them. Of course, I don’t support rounding up anyway.
But signal in advance? That only instituted a great fear among many groups that was unnecessary.
Not only that, but people in the United States have unsaid rights that are not in the Constitution. President Franklin Roosevelt, back in 1941, proclaimed our four freedoms.
- Freedom of speech.
- Freedom of worship.
- Freedom from want.
- Freedom from fear.
The first two are basic in the First Amendment of our Constitution. President Roosevelt added two more items that Americans now feel key to their survival.
The freedom from want speaks to our land of opportunity for everyone, where a person can by his own efforts get an education, then a decent job, provide for his family, and do so without any limits imposed by others. While some people have not attained this desirable goal, it has worked for so many, rising from their birth status with some reaching the highest of economic levels.
Norman Rockwell’s depiction of “Freedom from Fear.”
One way these people attain freedom from want is that they can do so in an atmosphere where they are not afraid. They know that the Constitution gives them certain protections, that their house cannot be invaded without cause; that they cannot be tried in a court of law without evidence; and that they can live in peace at home, knowing that their government provides them with protections, including police, fire and emergency personnel, should they need them.
This lets you sleep peacefully and soundly at night. It gives you the strength to rise and shine and tackle the world the next day.
Compare living in this climate in the United States with living in a country where there are no such guaranteed protections. Perhaps that country is run by a dictator. Would you feel peace trying to go to sleep at night if your leader was tyrannical?
Think about this when you go to bed tonight.
EVER HEARD of the Roosevelt Institute? It exists to honor individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to the four freedoms.
A medal has been awarded, beginning in 1982, for such individuals. Ceremonies take place in Hyde Park, N.Y. and Middleburg, Netherlands, during alternate years. The first award came on the centenary of FDR’s birthday, which was also the bicentenary of diplomatic relations between the United States and the Netherlands.
Among the laureates have been three Georgians, Jimmy Carter, Coretta Scott King and Joanne Woodward. The complete list:
- William Brennan
- H.M. Juan Carlos of Spain
- Jimmy Carter
- Bill Clinton
- The Dalai Lama
- Mikhail Gorbachev
- Averell Harriman
- Václav Havel
- H.R.H. Princess Juliana of the Netherlands
- John F. Kennedy
- Mike Mansfield
- Paul Newman
- Tip O’Neill
- Shimon Peres
- Coretta Scott King
- Brent Scowcroft
- Harry S. Truman
- Liv Ullmann
- Elie Wiesel
- Joanne Woodward
Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Follow Us