by Senator Gary L. Hooser
District 7
One of the duties of our elected officials is to stand as the voice of minorities in ensuring that all of our citizens are treated equally. The very fact that our society relies upon our state and federal constitutions in defining the rights of our citizens demonstrates that we must be more concerned with fundamental policies and core values than with the momentary stance of the majority. The rights of minorities cannot be defined solely by the sanction of the majority; they should instead reflect the ideals of our nation and our state in ensuring equality for all.
There are few among us who do not represent a group that once suffered discrimination at the hands of a well-intentioned majority. Our history is littered with examples of what happens when rights are defined solely by the majority view. Majorities once argued for the propriety of segregated schools and universities, the internment of Japanese-Americans, the exclusion of Chinese immigrants, and the denial of women’s right to vote. In each instance, the majority that withheld rights from the minority believed they were acting from the purest of motives: preserving established ways of life, protecting the weaker sex, economic stability and national security. Today we look upon those events as societal failures and historical embarrassments.