By Shahri Estakhry
It is mind-boggling where we are. As I write this editorial, there are reportedly more than six million individuals in the United States who have been infected by COVID-19 and more than 180,000 of our countrymen and women (and children) have died from it. These are just the cases that have been reported and that we know about. In just the second quarter (April-June) of 2020, the U.S. economy fell more than 30% and over thirty million people have lost their jobs so far this year. Millions of people are on the verge of homelessness. These figures are mind-numbingly large, representing an incomprehensible number of individual lives impacted. We become stunned by the sheer magnitude
It is also mind-boggling how we got here. Looking back over the nightmare of the past seven months, I fear that—as a society—we have lost compassion for others and are not able to show even the most basic respect for one another’s safety. Under the false democratic pretense of “it is my right,” we have allowed a pandemic of epic proportions to flourish. Once public health experts explained that mask-wearing protects the people around us, rather than ourselves, people made the decision they were willing to sacrifice other people’s health. It didn’t and doesn’t have to be this way, as we see in countries like Vietnam and New Zealand, that quickly responded to COVID-19 with comprehensive methods requiring collective individual action.
Today, democracy is under assault around the world. Ironically, some of the largest challenges come from inside the U.S., where we pride ourselves on being democracy’s greatest defender. And in turn, we are feeling the heat of these challenges. U.S. citizens are banned from visiting many countries around the world—a repetition of the nightmare Iranians went through with our passports after the revolution. I was talking to an American friend who expressed her disbelief at the current situation. I laughed and told her in this category I get an A+ for I have already experienced a bloody revolution. To what degree and how often must a human being experience such injustices before being put into a grave and finally at peace? Is that where we must look for peace? In our graves? We cannot be quiet any longer, silence is not an option!
It is time to follow what the late U.S. Representative John Lewis taught us: Keep moving and don’t be silent. We are all born with a strength that is to be used when wrong has been done. There is a long journey ahead of us and perseverance is needed.
I dream of a world where no human being is scorned but every child, woman, and man is truly honored, respected, and free—where equality and justice are a reality for all. We will demand what is rightly ours as human beings. This beautiful land needs all of us to rebuild again. This democracy has to live to its fullest promise, one that is more vibrant and inclusive. As the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said, “A great nation is a compassionate nation.”
This is the last issue of Peyk before the U.S. General Election on November 3rd. If you are a citizen, you must register and you must vote. It is your right and it is your choice. If you are like me, you immigrated to this country, never imagining in your wildest dreams what is happening today. I feel an obligation to the future of this land. If we have to stand for hours in line to cast our ballots, so be it. You cannot reap from this nation without being part of its governing process and future.
I am not devoted to any particular party. But I am concerned and will vote for those individuals that will make a difference for the future of this country and serve with honesty, dignity, and compassion.
