Caitlyne Gonzales has been named a finalist for Texan of the Year.
By Dallas Morning News Editorial
Caitlyne Gonzales should not be a finalist for Texan of the Year, according to The Dallas Morning News. Her name should be unfamiliar to most people in the state. Every time her mother says “good night,” she should not be haunted by evil dreams. She should not make a habit of visiting classmates’ graves. She should still be under the innocent, fifth-grade impression that the president of the United States is named Joe Byron, as she told classmate Marley Arellano this summer. But in Caitlyne’s life, and the lives of thousands of Texans affected by gun violence, what should be has been shattered, and what should never have been has become terrifyingly real.
Caitlyne was a survivor of the May 24 school shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde. That day, she huddled in the corner of Room 106 with Marley, listening to a gunman across the hall execute 19 of their classmates and two teachers, saying “good night” as he pulled the trigger.
Caitlyne knew all of the victims, and she has spoken on their behalf since that terrible day. She demanded accountability from the law enforcement officers who sat in the school hallway for more than an hour listening to gunshots. She went to the nation’s capital and asked lawmakers to pass gun control legislation so that her nightmare would not befall others. She kept her classmates’ memories alive by speaking at rallies and memorials, visiting shrines and murals dedicated to them, and decorating their graves.
“Robb’s most public survivor,” wrote Washington Post reporter John Woodrow Cox, “a voice for her friends who were dead and for those who were alive but too daunted to say anything… a 4-foot-8, 75-pound embodiment of the maroon ‘Uvalde Strong’ flags flying all over Texas.” Caitlyne stood in front of senators, a school board, and hundreds of grieving Texans, carrying a burden that should never have been hers and seemed far too large for someone wearing sneakers and a hair bow. When the father of one of the victims tweeted a photo of Caitlyne speaking to the Uvalde school board alongside another of the “Fearless Girl” sculpture facing down the Charging Bull statue in New York, he captured her fierceness brilliantly.
The trauma she endured might have been enough to ruin a soul, to curl up a promising young life in a ball of anxiety, anger, confusion, escapism, and self-harm for most 10-year-olds — indeed, for most adults. Caitlyne will have to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder for the rest of her life. Caitlyne, on the other hand, sees herself as a “helper,” according to Cox, so her reaction to tragedy has been to do what she can to help others. In that way, she represents the community of people who have supported one another over the last seven months, through tragedy, funerals, a media frenzy, Dia de los Muertos, the start of a school year, and the first holiday season without loved ones.
It’s unrealistic to expect Caitlyn Gonzales to facilitate the healing our state requires or the gun reform our politicians refuse to implement. To burden her with that expectation would only exacerbate her loss. Her nomination here should be interpreted as a thank you for the strength she has already demonstrated, not as an appointment to the position of Uvalde spokesperson. Caitlyn must be a child in 2023. But, before the year 2022 is out, we’ll be grateful to her for speaking up. She should not be a finalist for Texan of the Year because of her involvement in a tragedy. She is, however, notable for her grace, courage, and maturity beyond her years.