Collegiate Times

One of the first civic doctrines American schoolchildren are taught is the principle of majority rule.

Indeed, this idea, heavily championed by President Andrew Jackson, is essential in democratic and republic societies such as our own - whether it is in a state's gubernatorial election (a quick reminder here of the upcoming election here in Virginia) or simply just a class picking on which day to have a test, the side with the most votes always carries the day. That's all well and good; America's favorite doctrine solves another dispute. What majority rule fails to consider is another doctrine - though less well known - inherent to free societies: that of minority rights.

Minority rights are those rights, which, to borrow from Jefferson, are inalienable, no matter how exceeding the majority is. To again borrow from the Declaration of Independence, life and liberty, for example, can never be stripped from the side that is left lacking in votes. The reason I can say this idea is inherent to American society is because it is embedded in the document that gave birth to American government - the Constitution. This is clear just from the First Amendment. As former Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "If there is any principle of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other, it is the principle of free thought - not free thought for those who agree with us, but freedom for the thought that we hate."

As I write this, the day is Friday, September 11. Therefore, as you read these words, I hope you can allow yourself to find the appropriate mindset. Think back to when you were but 11, 12 or 13 years old and you first heard the news of the towers' fall. Drift forward a little ways to the months and years after, the support everyone gave to the city of New York. But, do you also remember the deep fear that ran through the country? Do you remember our mistrust, our hatred? It is only natural for Americans to have felt that way; it was without question the most horrendous and despicable act of war to happen in the U.S. since the bombing of Pearl Harbor. But while everyone is susceptible to imprudence when mourning, the suffering was compounded in the aftermath of the attacks. Middle Easterners came under scrutiny in airport baggage checks, despite the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection. Many Americans, in a way all-too close to the Red Scare, started seeing dissenters as anti-American. Much like President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Japanese-American Internment Camps in the 1940s, American citizens were being stripped of their rights, justified by the mantra of majority rule.

If history's teachings are not sufficient, consider a world where one faction was so strong that it could fully suppress its opposition. Without minority rights, intellectual, political and organizational opponents could be silenced by the powerful majority. Even in more balanced Washington, the oppressive gaze could instead be directed upon other facets of our lives. New legislation straining small businesses and satiating corporate greed could fall upon the nation. It is not hard to see the ominous consequences of a republic devoid of minority rights.

In 2009, we have been free of major tragedies, and while we are blessed for this, we cannot forget the lessons we had to learn the hard way at the beginning of the decade. There are heated debates raging, with health care being at the top of the list. Whether you align yourself with the Tea-Party conservatives, or if you think they're merely out to ruin the president, keep Holmes' lesson in mind. Because in the end, we're all Americans, and beyond this nation, we're all humans, and, to borrow from Jefferson one last time, we are all endowed with inalienable rights in accordance to the Law of Nature and of Nature's God.