Tom Hanks, the longtime actor, recently spoke to graduating students from Harvard University, to whom he delivered an impassioned defense of the ideals of truth and the expression of such a thing that’s consistently been found in the way so many have tried to shape the United States towards greater and greater justice.
“The American way could be exampled when you respect the law and the rights of all, because if you don’t, who will?” Hanks told listeners. “When you vote your conscience and make sure your neighbor has the opportunity to do the same with theirs, because if you don’t, who will? When you make good on your victories and learn from your losses because both are the results of proud and noble efforts. If you don’t — who will?”
It is not a given that Republican political leaders will, in an objective sense, respect the law. Time and again, Trump himself has clamored either against the rhetorical wheels of justice that have turned against participants in the Capitol riot or his own consequences in the nation’s civil and criminal system, speaking as though the system itself is somehow corrupt. He and fellow GOP primary contender Ron DeSantis have both shown themselves to be open to the possibility of pardoning participants in the Capitol riot.
“The truth, to some, is no longer empirical,” Hanks added. “It’s no longer based on data nor common sense nor even common decency. Telling the truth is no longer the benchmark for public service… Someone will report the world to you exactly as you wish it were, full of alternative facts, of conjured narrative meant to buttress the status quo and deny its offenses or re-jig the rules and muddy the playing field, depending on where one is on the food chain and the moral spectrum.”
“Indifference will narrow the vision of America’s people and make dim the light of Lady Liberty’s symbolic torch,” Hanks continued. “If we do the work, justice and the American way are within our grasp no matter our gender, our faith, our station, our heritage or genetic makeup, the shade and hue of our flesh, or the continental birthplace of our ancestors. Why is that truth so hard for some to accept, much less respect?”
A high-profile example of recent rejections of this idea is the incessant targeting of LGBTQ+ communities by Republican elected officials. Check out Hanks’s speech below:
