DEFENDING OUR "ALAMO OF LIBERTIES"

There is a legend that, in 1836 a few days before the final Mexican assault, William B. Travis gathered all of the Alamo's defenders together. Announcing that reinforcements would not be coming, Travis unsheathed his sword and drew a line in the sand. He then told those who were willing to stay and die with him to cross the line; those who wanted to leave could do so without shame. Most crossed the line, leaving only two men behind. One soldier, Bowie, was confined to a cot with typhoid, but asked to be carried across the line.

What will it take for each of us to draw the proverbial “line in the sand” in our Alamo of Liberties?

Will we draw that line when our Social Security is privatized and we lose all our retirement security in the free market? What about when our child gets sick because we were told that private suppliers would regulate themselves and ensure us of food safety—but it didn’t happen. Will we draw the line then?

Now that the top 1/100 of 1% earn 976 times what the rest of us earn combined, we haven’t draw the line. When will we? Will those few have to earn 1000 times what all the rest of us earn combined? What about 1500 times what we all earn? Will we draw lines then?

Over 50,000 Americans died in Vietnam before we moved but, in the late 1960’s, young people from all over this great nation drew lines in the sand and said, “No more!” Our generation turned out by the thousands to protest an unjust war. It worked! Do we have to lose that many or more of our husbands, sons, brothers and fathers again?

Will we draw the line when our college students sit in classrooms full of young people carrying firearms? Will we draw the line when those same students attend parties with alcohol being served to attendees with handguns? What will it take for us to draw lines in the sand? Legislation is pending now to allow just that.

When those who aren’t Evangelical Right-Wing Protestants are persecuted for not accepting the “correct” views, will we draw that line? Or will we wait until America resembles England in the 1550’s and burning at the stake was common?

Women have a huge stake in drawing lines because of the current political climate that is dramatically pushing us backward. Will our line be drawn when we are denied the right to affordable mammograms, cancer and STD screenings, and birth control? We haven’t, because we’ve allowed Congress to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood. What will it take?

Will we draw the line when half of us whose employers don’t pay for health care are denied health insurance again? That’s not enough either because we’re allowing Congress to attempt to repeal Health Care Reform.

Is eliminating incest and drug-inducement from qualifying as rape enough to draw a line in the sand? What about changing the law to no longer call us rape “victims” when the unthinkable occurs and call us “accusers” instead? Will we draw the line then? Both have already been proposed, as has requiring that rape victims prove that they were actually forced.

Today’s Baby Boomers drew lines in the sand by marching and protesting alongside our African American friends as we helped lead the way to integration. What did it take for us to get there then? What will it take now?

Our Alamo of Liberties is being taken away from us, piece by piece. One piece may not hurt enough to draw that line, but more have come and more will come in the future—unless we do something about it. Our friends in Wisconsin have drawn their line and they deserve our support. We must stand together and make our voices heard.