This Saturday is the Fourth of July, a day when we
celebrate the freedoms we enjoy in America. Sometimes the real reason for the
Fourth gets buried underneath watermelon rinds and hot dog buns, but the majority
of Americans appreciate the high price so many men and women paid for liberty.
The list of those freedoms is long, but there are a few
that jump to the top of the list. First, the right to disagree. Over the past
few weeks, we’ve engaged in heated arguments about sensitive political topics.
No
matter what side of the issue you’re on, the fact that you can freely voice
that opinion is one of the building blocks of our country. And even though
there are those who want to silence the voices that disagree with them, that’s
not the way the hand is played in the United States.
I
once worked for a man who’d immigrated to America from Hungary under mysterious
circumstances. One day, I casually asked how he came to this country and he stated
talking.
In his
country, people could talk about politics in public places but they didn’t. If
you were overheard disagreeing with the politicians in power, the police would
come knocking at your door, and you’d be hauled off for questioning.
Wanting better, in the middle of the night, he went to an
unfenced spot on the border and waited for the guard to pass. When the guard
was far enough away, this guy took off running.
He said he could hear the guard yelling at him to stop,
but he kept going with just the clothes on his back and the little money he’d
saved. A week later, someone was shot crossing the border at that exact spot.
The right to speak your mind without worrying the police
will come pounding at your door at three in the morning is something I’m
extremely thankful for in this country. Sure we get hate emails or nasty looks
when we do speak our mind, but with freedom comes the risk you’ll offend
someone.
I’m thankful
we can travel all over this country’s 3 million square miles without anyone
stopping us at the state line, demanding a passport or official papers.
Not
only can we follow the wide-open roads, we can follow our dreams, from anchoring
a set of bull horns to the front grill of our old caddy to starting our own
business and watching our ideas become reality.
Take
a look at NASA –engineers believed we could land on the moon, and they accomplished
that feat. Because we dreamed we could explore the universe, we know what the
surface of Mars looks like and our satellites continue to find new planets and
stars.
More
than anything, Americans are willing to take a chance. Here in Fort Bend
County, we brought in community and technical colleges as well as a major university,
hoping enough people would want to further their education.
Thousands
have filled those classrooms, believing an education is their best shot at
achieving the American dream.
That
dream is different for all of us. Martin Luther King Jr. talked about his
vision for America. So did Bobby Kennedy, Oscar De La Hoya, Steve Jobs, Oprah
Winfrey and the family that runs the store on the corner. Thousands of people have
followed their gut and made their dream a reality.
Americans
put into action what we imagine in our heads because we have the freedom to pursue
our dreams.
So
when those fireworks go off this Fourth of July, I’ll be giving thanks for the
freedoms we enjoy and to the brave people who paid the price for those
freedoms.
This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.
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