Letter: Minority rights must be protected
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I am troubled by Mr. Charles Watts’ letter asserting that because he and the majority of people in Louisiana feel a certain way, minorities should accept their views.
If our country, a republic, had operated by that creed, we might not have the Civil Rights Act of 1964 , not to mention the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Perhaps those are minorities that Mr. Watts finds tolerable.
Minorities’ rights must be protected, no matter how singular or alienated that minority is from the majority society.
The majority does not necessarily reflect the Constitution. Without responsible government or constitutional protections of individual liberties from democratic power, it is possible for individuals to be oppressed by the “tyranny of the majority.”
Democracy requires minority rights.
Our Founding Fathers worried that the majority could abuse its powers to oppress a minority just as easily as a king.
James Madison wrote that, “It is of great importance in a republic, not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part.”
Being part of the majority does not make you compassionate or merciful. It also does not make you right nor give you the right to disparage others.
I will continue to teach tolerance and instill in young people an understanding that all Americans have the right, under the 14th Amendment, to be treated the same under the law.
Zahn Burdick
history teacher
Breaux Bridge
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