SerpApi.Org
Anytime I turn on the news, I worry about what I will see. Everywhere we turn there are people lying, screaming and spewing the same vile talking points. Some of the most powerful people in our country are doing everything they can to take away the rights, liberties and representation of Black people, immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community and all marginalized communities. They are dividing communities and fostering distrust, discrimination and violence.
There is no doubt about it: the Trump administration is pushing a culture of hate, and our elected leaders aren’t responding. In a system explicitly designed for checks and balances, we’re not seeing a whole lot of either. To Americans everywhere: now is the time to demand more of your public officials.
Our country was founded on the admirable idea that, when faced with an unjust government, it is the people’s right and duty to reject that government and build a better one. Our systems were designed so that no one man could wield all the power and abuse it.
These original ideals are being tested now, and we must rise to the occasion. When the people are faced with hate and vitriol, true leaders meet it with the full force of justice, equity and progress.
Yet, too many of our current members of Congress are praising the president and excusing government overreach to protect themselves. Other leaders are saying they won’t accept any more injustice, then sitting back down so no one calls them disruptive. Or, they are saying nothing at all so as not to make waves.
Our country deserves public servants who actually serve the public instead of themselves.
When the government is denying Black people, immigrants and marginalized communities of their due process, their life and liberty, it is not enough for the people in charge to write strongly worded letters or give speeches about how it’s wrong. It is our responsibility to take action and put ourselves on the line to get in between our constituents and the arms of cruelty and fascism.
Black, Brown, immigrant and working-class communities know all too well that words without action from politicians will get us nowhere. We have been on the front lines of the hateful policies and actions of this administration.
In Florida alone, more than 400,000 people hold Temporary Protected Status. Now, all of them have been left in the lurch because of Trump and his lackeys. Parents, neighbors and co-workers who were documented are now facing the terrible question of how to care for themselves and their families.
Our communities face an added danger just by existing; in the span of a week, two men were fatally shot by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers (ICE) and a third died while fleeing an encounter with immigration agents. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a father of three, was shot on his way to work. Joan Sebastian Durán Guerrero, a young father, was shot and pulled out of his car. Not far from my district, ICE was following Juan Jairo Coronilla Duran, a tourist, when he was struck by a truck and died.
All the while, the administration is trying to silence our voices. The gutting of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 this spring paved the way for those in power to protect their positions by drawing us out of our maps. Already gerrymandering attempts have spread across the country to limit fair representation for Black communities.
None of this should be normal. We will not allow our elected officials to sit idly by while people are hurting.
As a Florida State Representative, as a U.S. Senate Candidate, and above all as a mother, I am refusing to let this moment pass over me. I am putting my body on the line because that is what the position calls for. No matter the roadblocks, I will not stop because people are still hurting.
To Black, Brown, immigrant and all marginalized communities across the country, your voice matters. Now is the time to demand more from your lawmakers. Despite the challenges of the moment, we can put an end to the cycle of hate if we join in our demands for justice.
To my fellow elected officials, I ask that you join me in doing more than simply making statements on the critical issues affecting people’s lives. The power of public servants is a privilege, and we cannot let it go to waste. You have the means to make change, so make it. Show up and present solutions that protect the people as you promised.
As Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. told us, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. This culture of hate will be defeated, so long as we never stop fighting.
Rep. Angie Nixon is a Florida State Representative and a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.
Related Articles
