It is indeed a rare occasion when one of the letters or columns in The Signal’s opinion page resonates so strongly with my heart, mind and soul, as did the one by Christine Flowers (May 5) regarding the Supreme Court’s recent decision on gerrymandering and voting rights. Ms. Flowers’ statement, “voting rights … cannot be based on skin color alone, or religion, or class, or sexual orientation, or any other nonessential aspect of humanity,” may very well have been a thunderclap from God Himself, speaking through Ms. Flowers in that statement.
Let those words sink in and take deep root, the words, “or any other ‘NONESSENTIAL’ aspect of humanity.” Let them serve as a reminder and a warning as to the sheer childishness of “identifying” as anything. Instead of focusing on the blackness, or the brown-ness, or the queerness, or the whatever-ness, of the person, instead of focusing on “what” they are, let’s really get to know “who” they are. At the end of the day I don’t give a hoot in hell as to what you are (or what you “think” you are). I won’t even begin to deal with you until I get to know who you are. And I, for one, believe it’s worth the effort. Get over your fears of the “what” and get to know the “who.” If you can’t do that then, by all means, draw your petty little lines and gerrymander yourselves into oblivion.
Arthur Saginian
Santa Clarita
