Americans need to reclaim their freedom to speak
Fifty years ago, fresh out of college, I was thrilled to be hired as a guide (propaganda agent, more like) to the U.S. Cultural Exchange Exhibit to the USSR. I had majored in Russian, and was relatively conversant in that language.
Six days a week, for nine hours a day, I explained to Russians what life was like in America.
We visited three cities, a two week break between cities, and stayed for 6 months, in Tbilisi, Moscow and Volgograd. There were 24 of us guides.
I felt so proud to be an American, where whatever opinion I cared to vent, I was free to vent it. Our glorious First Amendment to the Constitution guaranteed that. But that day is gone.
Now, teachers may lose their jobs if they fail to honor a student’s preferred pronouns.
Physicians who differ with today’s standard of care for transgender kids dare not voice their disapproval, lest they be blackballed and lose any chance of working as a doctor.
Female athletes who object to a biological male on the team may lose their spot on the team. Riley Gaines reported that her teammates chose to change in the janitor’s closet, rather than before the 6’1” Lia Thomas, whose swim record on a male team was less than stellar. According to Swimming World, by the conclusion of Thomas’s swimming career at U-Penn in 2022, Thomas’ rank skyrocketed from 65th in the 500 freestyle for men to 1st for women.
The new fantasy is whites of European ancestry claiming Asian ancestry. It’s just like “let’s pretend” in kindergarten, except you could lose your job if you make a derogatory comment.
If you didn’t know what “woke” means, this is what it means. Budweiser and Target paid a high price for woke.
College enrollments are declining, when common sense families decide that if a university president doesn’t know the difference between male and female, perhaps there is little worthwhile to be learned there.
Many of us hope that the election of a new president will restore the freedom of expression this nation has long been known for.
Whatever occurs, Americans need to reclaim their freedom to speak, despite anyone being “triggered” by it. The New America has hints of Communist China or North Korea. It can’t be tolerated.
Jane Ryan Carrell attended Loyola University New Orleans where she majored in Russian Language, and Brown University where she received a Masters in Russian Literature. She is retired and acts as a bus driver for grandkids, when she is not concerned with election integrity.
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