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LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS! |
It is MY life.
I should not fear for my life in America, or for the lives of my family and friends. Of course, in a free society, where people are not restrained or restricted from public places, there has always existed the chance of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, I should not fear for my life while taking my wife to a movie or to a night spot, or dropping off my child at his school, or attending the church of my choice. I should not fear for my life because of attending Fiesta or India Fest in downtown Winston Salem, or cheering my workmates during a July 4 or an LGBT PRIDE parade.
I am entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Not death, restriction and sorrow.
I clearly understand the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. It states “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” It means we have the right to form a militia, which would be the National Guard. It means the people have the right own a weapon. Adopted in 1790 within the Bill of Rights, the framers of the Constitution could never have foreseen the invention and variety of weapons in the modern era.
I happened to be visiting my 22-year-old daughter in Brooklyn, N.Y., recently. We had just sat down to enjoy breakfast when she mentioned that something terrible had happened in Orlando. I immediately thought of my workmates in that area. I know Orlando receives a massive amount of people from across the globe due to the theme parks and also boasts a large resident African American and Latino population. The 49 dead reflected this same makeup. Each person that perished was the child, brother, sister, grandson, cousin and life partner and friend to someone else.
After Sandy Hook Elementary School, Virginia Tech, Charleston Emanuel AME and the Aurora theater, we have begun to believe that this is the way it is going to be from here on out. The anger and hopelessness that I felt that Sunday morning of Orlando, coupled with fear for the lives of my loved ones, has now been transformed into something I can own: To the families of the Orlando dead, we raise up our voices of compassion and condolences. Hateful rhetoric has consequences for all, not just the targeted. America was conceived as a thought of freedom; a place of ethnic, racial and gender diversity. The haters will not persevere in America because it goes against our fabric of fairness and equality.
The American people have a breaking point on mass murder, and we are there. It is the responsibility of our elected officials to protect our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Now we demand courage from the U.S. House and Senate. The American people will be heard loud and clear in November.
Luis G. Lobo is a banking executive who lives in Winston-Salem.
- Luis Lobo: Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ... published in WSJ 6-26-16
