Here we are, already 10 days into 2007, and I am still optimistic that this new year will be one marked by illumination and enlightenment. This year will be one in which historical cycles will no longer bind us, but serve as stories to be learned from in order for us to forge new paths.
The negative spell that has been cast over our nation, hanging over “we the people” like a dark cloud, will be broken.
It began like this: On Dec. 31, as the clock struck midnight, a cool rush of air swept through the nation, shaking loose prejudices and blind spots hidden in America’s nooks and crannies. It eventually will leave in its place tolerance and clarity. A new appreciation for diversity will be awakened.
Families will no longer be split up because one of them happened to be born on foreign soil. Children will no longer fear being separated from their mothers and fathers in the name of American values. They will no longer be left to survive in makeshift homes. For American values will now truly mean family and equality.
People will no longer have to risk their lives being transported into this country stuffed in the trunks of cars or piled like sardines in vans like some worthless cargo. Raised guns and stray bullets at the U.S. borders will no longer welcome them. America will have developed a humane plan for newly arrived immigrants in the pursuit of happiness. Deportation will have been a bad dream.
“Alien” will become an alien term. We’ll have no need for words like “deportation” and “anti-immigration.” Replacing those, on the tips of American tongues, will be words like “neighbor,” “open border,” and “welcome.”
It will be widely realized that what makes this country is its people, its flavor, and its diversity. People will no longer work against the other in order to keep the benefits of society for themselves, having united as a society in which interests in the well-being of our neighbors reigns supreme.
People will laugh when the subject of the old days comes up; how it was uniqueness that kept us divided when our varied, dynamic nature is actually what gives our country its strength.
Our current fear of linguistic disparity will be a thing of the past. America will no longer live in fear of the bilingual boogey man.
Our country will understand that language is knowledge and that more language only means more possibilities for learning and expressing. America will know that added languages inside its borders is added wealth.
People will understand that in addition to having a strong grasp of English, understanding one or more foreign languages is imperative to the strength of this country and it’s future. Multilingualism will be something to be proud of.
This year, America will be truly equal. A woman and an African-American will earn the respect of a country based on their wit and compassion, based on their brains and on their virtues. We will stop our one-sided ideology that our president needs to be a white Christian male and come to terms with the fact that that system of choosing leadership is flawed at best.
We will see that this nation has evolved and is continuing to evolve. What this country needs is a fresh beginning, an eye-opener, a new consciousness that will bring us into a direction of hope and prosperity, and, yes, freedom. We will free ourselves from barbaric political views and welcome all candidates regardless of race and gender.
We have begun this New Year with the renewed knowledge that the educational system is the premier institution of truth and equality. All schools will be given the same budgets and resources regardless of their demographics and populations. We will understand that all schools within districts are equal and that we must strive to recruit English as a second language teachers that mirror their student body.
We will make it a priority to revisit our current curriculums and ensure that they are not only appropriate for our changing times, but that they are unbiased. CSAP will be a thing of the past.
I know this New Year will be one full of tolerance and cultural acceptance. We will actually live up to the motto unity and equality for all.
I remain optimistic. It can happen.
Emilia Fernández Valerio (emilia01@ earthlink.net) is an educator and graduate student at the University of Denver who currently works at the central Denver Public Library.
