The other day, I was flying home from Florida when I suddenly had a flashback. My mind took me back to 2009 and Neda Agha-Soltan. For anybody who does not remember, Neda was a beautiful young philosophy student in Iran who was supporting the protests against the election of then-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. She was walking back to her car when she was shot in the chest and killed.
The video of that murder was seen all over the world and to be perfectly honest, when I saw it back in 2009, I cried like a baby. Maybe it is because seeing such a sweet and innocent girl senselessly murdered made me think of my own daughters, but I remember being uncontrollably sad and upset.
But it also felt incredibly lucky to be living in a country where something like that would never happen to my daughters. I thought about all of this as I flew home from Florida and it made me realize that no matter how divided we all are, I am still proud of all of us as Americans.
I may not agree with all of the protesters who have been relentlessly criticizing the president for virtually everything he does. But I’m grateful that we live in a country where they can voice their concerns without fearing death or imprisonment from the government.
I may not agree with certain members of the press who seem almost gleeful in saying negative things about President Trump. But I am happy they can say these things without fearing for their jobs or their safety.
I may think the Democrats are jumping to conclusions by asserting without any concrete proof that President Trump is secretly working with Vladimir Putin. But I’m glad that they have the ability to make those accusations without fearing assassination or removal from office.
I could go on, but I think you get the point.
Our system of checks and balances and freedom of expression is just an incredible phenomenon to behold, especially for somebody like me who grew up in a country where those principles were not emphasized.That’s why even when the President goes too far – like calling the judges who ruled against him on the travel restrictions “So-called Judges” – I am still thankful for our system.
Sure, he may have attempted to de-legitimize the judge in the eyes of the public, but in other countries, those judges would have been thrown in jail or killed. Or worse, there may not have been Judges to push back against the executive at all. Not in America, though.
Here, we have mechanisms in place to protect rights. We may disagree on finer points, but compared to many countries where women, members of the LGBT community, and other minorities are flat out treated like property, we have it pretty damn good.
I suppose you could say that for all the talk of white privilege or male privilege, all of us have the greatest privilege of all: American privilege. I wish more countries would allow their citizens to be free like we are so people could experience the wonders of open elections, speech that wouldn’t get them hunted by the government, and the ability to follow their hopes and dreams.
Maybe one day. And I certainly hope that some of the protesters here in America will extend their protests someday to fight for the rights of those people, too.
But for now, I will just pray that we don’t have to read about too many more women like Neda. There’s only so much sadness the world can take.