The words that brought the Beastie Boys credibility more than 20 years ago still ring true today: "You gotta fight for your right."
The spirit of fighting for one's rights, however, seems to have gotten up out of its seat and left the American people sitting at the table. People today are reluctant, - terrified, even - to take a stand against unfair laws out of fear of repercussion. When someone or something places limitations or shackles God-given freedoms, one should be compelled to question those limitations. Sadly enough, this is often not the case today. People are often complacent to the limits placed upon them by the institution, subconsciously (or, more frightening, consciously) allowing some or even all of their rights to be reduced. What is considered "normal" or "lawful" can often limit one's means to express her or his rights or attitudes, and when one goes against the norm, that person may be cast off as abnormal, lawless or even dangerous.
This was not always the case. Looking back over the last few centuries, one can find many instances when American people went against laws and norms to demand what was rightfully theirs. In the 1700s, for example, the Patriot colonists, under the oppression of a bullying monarchy, rebelled and snatched their independence out of the hands of the
Parliament and King George III. In the 1800s, our divided nation fought in a Civil War largely because some rejected the institution of slavery. Texans grew tired of the Mexican government standing over them, and therefore tore away from the institution to establish their own Republic. And in the 1900s, women fought against suffrage laws until they secured their right to vote, and African-Americans fought against segregation of public transportation and schools until such laws were dismantled (visibly, at least). Even here at UT, it was only after continuous student demand for a place at the table of student affairs that a student was finally placed on the Board of Regents in 2006.
While many of these undertakings seemed dangerous, these American people were committed to fighting for their rights. These American people realized that the institution needed to be changed, and, more importantly, they realized that the institution needed to be challenged. It is crucial for us to understand that, even today, the institution cannot be changed until it is challenged. For people to hide behind a law just because it is "the law" is to ignore this country's rich tradition of rebutting and rebuilding the institution to better serve the rights of the people. Similarly, it is time for us as Longhorns, as Texans, to cease hiding behind the comfort of state law and recognize the discriminatory nature borne by the Texas laws that discriminate against same-sex couples. This is not a call to start a riot or to topple the system, but rather a call to change something that takes away from a particular group the liberty and justice which we claim stand for all. If it has to be our University that takes the first stand and reclaims the country's hallmark of challenging unfair and unjust laws, then so be it. I challenge UT to fight for our rights - not because it's against the law, but because it's the right thing to do.
Howard is an English and government junior.
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