Protecting Our Rights in America: For What and For Whom?
Hooshyar Afsar
The Iranian community in America is diverse in many respects… However, the common ground for all Iranians, in addition to their national background, is their fundamental rights. Why is awareness and safeguarding of these rights important? Many of us believe that powerful governments have such extensive capabilities to gather information about every aspect of our lives that awareness and safeguarding of our rights bear no fruit, and they can do whatever they want with us.
This attitude reminds me of a discussion I had once with a dear friend over the importance of computer security on an individual level. My good friend argued that hackers have advanced so much in their techniques that if they choose to, they can access our computers and all our personal information, including passwords and bank accounts. He believed that this made our efforts to protect personal information futile. My response was that this reasoning is similar to saying that if experienced burglars want to, they can get through any locked door or window, so there is no need to lock our doors and windows. By sharing my personal experience in choosing appropriate passwords, regularly changing them, and employing other relatively simple techniques for safeguarding computer security, I demonstrated that it is possible to prevent identity theft by hackers. Fortunately, my friend was convinced. The question is: Why are safeguarding intangible assets like personal computer information or our fundamental human rights not given the attention and importance they deserve?
The beginning step in safeguarding our rights is awareness. Why is awareness important? If we believe that the powerful government of the United States is always aware of everything and can easily trample on our rights whenever it wants, then what is the point of awareness and defending our rights? I challenge this belief from several perspectives.
First of all, no government, even the United States government with all its resources and experience, has absolute power. Throughout nearly two hundred and fifty years of U.S. history, the American people have repeatedly faced violations of their fundamental rights and have paid a heavy price to guarantee and expand their freedoms. They ended two hundred and fifty years of slavery in the nineteenth century and, during the twelve-year post Civil War period known as Reconstruction, passed the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution, thereby abolishing slavery and taking significant steps towards equality for all citizens. Despite the historical setbacks of the late nineteenth century, the civil rights movement of the mid-twentieth century achieved significant accomplishments. Influenced by the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the Immigration Act of 1965 eliminated racial discrimination against non-European immigrants and paved the way for the significant expansion of the Iranian community in America. This reality is not limited to America. In Iran, where legal protection of individual rights does not have a strong foundation, in recent years, Iranian women defending the right to choose their dress have forced the Islamic Republic to retreat.
Secondly, the U.S. Constitution and its various protective clauses and amendments regarding freedom of expression, equality before the law, our individual right to due process, and the right to a fair trial by jury are not limited to citizens; every individual (“Any Person”) in the United States is entitled to these rights. U.S. federal courts have repeatedly ruled in favor of preserving the rights of all residents whose rights have been violated, including legal and undocumented immigrants.
We need to defend our rights for freedom in all areas of our lives. For the acceptance of our individual and social responsibilities in living freely. Because the preservation of each of our freedoms and respect for the freedom of others guarantees the survival of freedom in society. Because freedom opens the path to flourishing in all fields of our lives, which begins with our individual efforts.
… and For Whom? Safeguarding our human rights is not limited to our individual benefit. Advocating for our rights can and should extend to all Iranians in America. The unity and cohesion of all of us—from first and second-generation citizens to green card holders, from students on visas to others on different visas, from asylum seekers to undocumented Iranians—regardless of their religious or political beliefs, or ethnic backgrounds, empowers our community and maximizes our abilities to guarantee and safeguard our rights. Beyond our own community, solidarity with all immigrant communities is instrumental to our success in this endeavor.
Let us ask ourselves how future generations will perceive us. Will they praise our actions in safeguarding and expanding our human rights, viewing it as a key element of their own freedoms? Or will they consider our inaction and silence as reasons for the loss of their own human rights?
