Mitchell: I’m 90 and increasingly concerned about America’s future
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Carolyn Mitchell
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By Carolyn Mitchell | Retired Social Worker
Recently, a volunteer came to my door and asked me what concerns me the most in this election year. An answer came immediately to mind.
I am 90 years old, and I have always felt privileged to live in a democracy. I am the third generation of a Polish/German/Irish immigrant family. I identify strongly with my Polish ancestors, as I was raised by my Polish grandparents after my mother died just before I turned 3.
She died of complications after childbirth when she suffered a hemorrhage and sepsis following a ruptured uterus. The year was 1937, during the Great Depression, and her medical care was minimal.
My great grandparents immigrated to this country in the 1870s. They were hardworking, proud Americans. They had five children (my great aunts and uncles): two girls became teachers, two sons become grocers, and the third son died of tuberculosis two weeks before he could be ordained as a priest.
My Great Aunt Cecil had a strong influence on my life. She taught me lessons at an early age, preparing me for school, and even became my sixth-grade teacher. I was eager to learn. My grandmother had read to me every night from the age of 3, so I was well-versed in fairy tales and stories of nature.
From Aunt Cecil, I learned about my family and my country. She taught me the Pledge of Allegiance, which we recited at school every morning. When I was in second grade, she explained the meaning of July 4 and had me memorize the opening of the Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among others are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Later, she helped me understand the meaning of this entire document, so central to our founding.
As patriotism flourished during World War II, she taught me about our government and democracy. She had me memorize the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution, which we also recited in school:
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
I revere and reference those words to this day. You can now see how my pride in democracy was engendered in me.
My dear aunt taught me one more thing — to memorize the Gettysburg Address — a short speech given on the battlefield in Pennsylvania during the Civil War. Lincoln speaks:
”Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. We are now engaged in a great Civil War, testing whether that nation ... can long endure.”
I challenge you to read and re-read the Gettysburg Address. You will find no discussion of “losers or suckers.” I think of that speech when I visit the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona to honor my stepmother and father, both WWII veterans, and my husband, who enlisted in the U.S. Army in the last five months of that war.
I have listened carefully to the political rhetoric that began in 2016. Hearing the expressions of fascism, praise for white supremacy, degradation of immigrants, distain for our military — both active-duty and veterans — I have grown increasingly concerned about the future of our democracy. But I am determined that our democracy will not only survive but become stronger.
I ask you to join in this effort. Pay attention to the news, read the newspapers, support candidates for office who support our democracy. Recognize the dangers to our democracy and Constitution expressed in Project 2025, purported to be the blueprint for the previous president.
We can all take action. We can vote to sustain our democracy.
Editor’s note: Carolyn Mitchell of Phoenix is retired master’s level social worker. Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.
