By Staff
Saturday’s participants in a local Rally for Justice enthusiastically sang the praises of unity, equality and social justice. About 50 people aligned for the inaugural event held in the Beaufort County Courthouse.
This type of grassroots event — similar in organization if not in philosophy to recent tea-party rallies — makes communities strong and more unified. That local residents are willing to stand up for what they believe benefits all of us, and that was evident in Saturday’s rally.
The gathering, sponsored by the local branch of the NAACP, Latino organizations and others, focused broadly on enhancing the opportunities for everyone to enjoy peaceful, meaningful, respectful lives.
Uniting under a theme of “social justice,” participants stressed that the issue is critical for all people regardless of race or culture. They characterized the rally as another step toward prompting people to look past skin color and background as they interact.
That concept has been preached since the height of the civil rights movements in venues across our country. We’ve moved toward that goal slowly but surely over the years, but it takes rallies such as Saturday’s to keep the issue in the forefront of our attention.
People who are willing to promote these laudable values deserve our praise and help.
Included in the rally’s “people’s agenda for 2009” are goals that everyone could help achieve: They include preservation of the area’s natural resources; providing county-wide recreational programs and facilities; promoting decent, affordable housing; increasing public access to local waterways; protecting immigrant rights; and improving educational programs and increasing multicultural representation on teaching faculties and administrative staffs in public schools.
We can indeed accomplish much more working together than we can apart, and the Rally for Justice was a step in the right direction.