In recent years there has been an exaggerated assault on the word liberal,"" aimed at linking the word to connotations of wimpy foreign policy, high taxes, reckless spending and crackpot ideas, to name a few.
Some go so far as to paint a liberal portrait of abortion-loving, gay-supporting deviants and godless loons. It is a catch-all term for any dissenter to the right-wing agenda - a scheme essentially aimed to make ""liberal"" a label to be ashamed to associate with.
Trumpeting the values of liberalism in Madison is pretty much akin to preaching to the choir, but that is not the point. The point is that if you consider yourself a liberal, wear the title proudly.
How is liberalism defined? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, it is ""a political philosophy based on belief in progress, the essential goodness of the human race, and the autonomy of the individual and standing for the protection of political and civil liberties."" Sounds shameful, doesn't it?
I am sure Ann Coulter would argue that clearly Merriam and/or Webster are leftist extremists and crazy liberals, bending the definition to suit their own agenda (a favorite practice of hers).
After all, according to Coulter, ""Liberals love America like O.J. loved Nicole.""
But isn't it the Bush administration's arrogant foreign policies that is killing American diplomacy and the U.S. reputation around the world? I digress.
Liberal has been a favorite insult of George W. Bush's, wielded often during his re-election campaign and usually aimed at John Kerry, calling him ""the most liberal member of the United States Senate"" with disdain. Bush's contempt for the word is ironic considering the root word for liberal, the Latin ""liber,"" means ""free,"" a favorite word used to tout his mantra of spreading freedom, so-called missions of ""Operation Iraqi Freedom."" Is he still calling it that?
The latest liberal slur on campus came courtesy of David Horowitz, calling liberals ""unable to add two and two and get four,"" during his speech last Monday.
The attack on the word ""liberal"" is nothing new. It was also a popular ""insult"" hurled by conservative segregationists in the south during the civil rights movement, though it was not a new tactic then either.
""The Southern Negroes have been
generously treated since they were brought to North America out of savagery - and SLAVERY - in Africa ... many a Southern politician, some of them white ignoramuses, are in servile, suppliant and obsequious manner, confirming filthy accusations incessantly droned and shrieked by the Northern 'Liberals,' white and colored, against the white South,"" wrote Tom Waring in a pro-segregation editorial published in 1948.
George C. Wallace, then governor of Alabama, famously uttered on July 4, 1964: ""I intend to give the American people a clear choice. I welcome a fight between our philosophy and the liberal left-wing dogma which now threatens to engulf every man, woman and child in the United States.""
What had Wallace up in arms? The Civil Rights Bill was signed into law the day prior. Granted these are extreme examples, but they illustrate how easy it is to use ""liberal"" in a negative connotation, even when employing the ""insult"" for an agenda as ludicrous as discrediting desegregation and the whole civil rights movement.
The result of such attacks on the word ""liberal,"" and attempts to make it a dirty word, are causing many liberals to shy away from associating themselves with the label. This is unfortunate, given the proud history of liberalism.
The roots of liberalism are a belief in individual rights and dignity.
Liberalism stands for ideals of personal freedom, as well as personal responsibility and pluralism, both as a political theory and an endorsement of diversity.
Liberalism has roots in protecting individual freedoms against overbearing or repressive government. It has roots in ideals of equal rights and equal opportunity for all, ideals our nation was founded upon, though admittedly not always put into practice. Many of these oversights have been corrected.
Countless advances made in the United States' storied history are the work of ""radical liberals,"" as they were often criticized as by opposition at the time: women's suffrage, emancipation, desegregation, social security, federal aid for education, Medicare, and the list goes on.
Does everyone have to agree with the ideals of liberalism? Of course not. But can we all agree ""liberal"" is not a dirty word? I'd like to think so.
Michelle Turcotte is a senior majoring in journalism. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com_
