A few feet from the newly rebuilt 35-W bridge, the air smells like autumn.Below where we stand on the all-but-abandoned people bridge, the Mississippi moves wordlessly resolute toward the sea.It is the day after Rosh Hashanah, and though I have never celebrated this Jewish New Year before, I have also never had a friend willing to let me tag along.
We are perched between the West & East Banks of the University of Minnesota to practice tashlikh.This tradition dates back to Abraham and Isaac, when a goat was sacrificed in place of Abraham’s only legitimate son.Tashlikh also is a variance on the Levitical custom of the entire community reciting their sins of the past year over a “scape goat” which was chased away into the desert bearing the guilt.In lieu of a goat, my friend and I have pieces of the bread which was broken for his Rosh Hashanah meal the evening before.
As Eddy reads a Hebrew poem and prayer, I concentrate on the regrettable things I have done in the past year.If this bread is to take away my sins, it should probably carry my pride and my lack of communication to those closest to me.I must be more generous in the coming year.I regret I haven’t used my talents to help more people.I regret that the War continues and I do so little, that nativism still poisons the lives of so many and I am quiet.
The bread spirals down to meet the muddy water.Eddy tells me that until Yom Kippur I am to engage in introspection and prayer, that I might not repeat those sins now bobbing below.A splash, a ripple, and the bread is gone.
I marvel that I have read the Old Testament in Christian circles many times over, and yet have never been so touched by this simple command to get rid of the old and purpose to do better.Maybe it was because it was in another language, maybe it was the power of a friend. Perhaps it was the changing leaves or the cold sunlight.Maybe it was that I felt like Abraham, a sojourner in a new land, seeing something for the first time.
The United States government signed contracts to build the border wall in south Texas yesterday, Sept. 22. DHS negotiated contracts with Clute, MCC, and Keiwit to construct 7.6 miles of barrier for $37 million. After Congress approved a $400 million appropriations request for the enactment of the Secure Fence Act of 2006, DHS contracts on Monday to spend $4.8 million for land in Los Indios, El Calaboz, La Paloma, and Bluetown, all of which are towns formed by Spanish land grants dating back to the 18th century. (http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/construction_90253___article.html/million_contracts.html)
My heart goes out to the families of these border towns who are more afraid of decrepit levees than illegal immigrants. As the Rio Grande Valley is moved one step closer to having a border wall slice through its communities, one wonders how the United States can justify begininning to spend $400 million on a border wall which is clearly unpopular when our banks are declaring bankruptcy, millions are foreclosing, the War drags on, and the dollar falls in relation to oil prices. I pray these actions and these contracts are forestalled long enough for a new administration to realize the lack of logic in building a border wall while neglecting immigration reform and for the country to finally hear the cries of these border towns in the way.
Seven years after the events in New York City, our nation is taking successful baby steps toward integrating a growing number of Muslim immigrants.On this September 11, Gold’n Plump announced a federally mediated settlement for its Cold Spring meat plant here in Minnesota.Gold’n Plump agreed to allow Muslim laborers an extra ten-minute break to accommodate their daily prayer rituals. Additionally, the chicken-processing plant has also agreed not to require workers to sign a statement agreeing to handle pork, a task that is considered immoral in the Islam faith.(Serres, Chris)
Mediated by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, this case sets a precedent for future rulings on a host of similar workplace environment complaints.Here in Minnesota, the large Somali population has been filling much of the manual labor openings in meat-packing plants and other factories.While a ten-minute break might not seem ground-breaking for most Mid-Westerners, for the thousands of Somalis and for the recent surge of Iraqi refugees this is a welcome long overdue.Earlier in the year several workers were dismissed from a Mission tortilla factory in New Brighton for refusing to adopt the dress code of pants and short-sleeve shirts for religious reasons.(Serres, Chris)
In a nation hyper-sensitive to national defense and homeland security, the Gold’n Plump settlement is significant progress towards integrating an entire people group that has so far existed only on the periphery of American culture.As has always been the case, immigrant groups contribute most to a culture and are most satisfied when they have a sense of belonging within their new land.Integration is the best Department of Homeland Security the United States has ever had.Hopefully this Gold’n Plump settlement signals an era when the United States will spend more on English-as-a-Second-Language classes than it does on military translators, a time when America invests more in its immigrant groups than in creating refugees in distant lands, a new beginning when integration trumps deportation or criminalization as our policy towards newcomers to the American dream.
Sadly, that day is not yet here.In another breaking news item this past week, a prostitution ring was broken up in Austin, MN.Keila Villanueva and Miguel Isep-Roman, both American citizens, ran a brothel and a prostitution ring in Austin and the Twin Cities(Ruzek, Tim). As is so often the case, the prostitutes were illegal immigrants coerced into selling themselves for money and continued secrecy.While Somalis moved toward a fuller integration in American life this past week, extralegal workers are still living lives of secrecy, still susceptible to being manipulated by corporations trying to save a few dollars or people who see them as a means to an end.As long as public policy continues to hold out no hope for extralegal immigrants to work towards citizenship, we will still have millions of people living without basic human rights. They will work in our factories and our fields, in our brothels and night clubs, not because of lack of experience or potential but merely because they lack some papers.This should not be.
This past week, the philosophy of nonviolence was compounded with a high-profile case of immigration.On Sept. 6, the Toronto Star ran an article about Peter Jemley, a 42-year-old Arabic linguist who is seeking refugee status from Canada.He is currently an American soldier who, after enlisting in 2005, recently discovered this last February that the United States sanctioned new rules on questioning terrorists.Jemley’s petition for refugee status forces Canada to comment on the actions of its southerly neighbor – is the U.S. engaging in torture tactics which constitute international war crimes?
While Canada has been quiet on this issue for the past year, Jemley’s refugee case will make the government issue an official statement as to whether waterboarding, sleep deprivation, intimidation, and humiliation are indeed devices of torture.Previous Iraq War refugee cases in Canada have centered on the legality of the ongoing military conflict; a dozen refugees are still awaiting word on their status as military deserters.
Jemley’s lawyer clearly described the international question his client’s case poses: “Nobody should associate themselves with torture or violations of the Geneva Conventions because if we start to wink at violations of the Geneva Conventions they’re no longer law, they’re just guidelines.”
The entire world will await the outcome of this refugee case.For adherents of nonviolence, this case provides the perfect context in which immigration could one day be used to facilitate change in a nation. If Jemley succeeds in his refugee petition, borders could potentially be opened enough that countries with aggressive war policies would suddenly find themselves without soldiers and nations which discriminate between races or classes or sexes might find an entire segment of their population emigrating.In a small way, the fate of this 42-year-old-father of two could be a beginning to a nonviolent alternative to war – refugee emigration.
For some, supporting the construction of a 700-mile border wall on our nation’s southern border is simply a solid political move to show that one is “hard on immigration issues;” Obama, McCain, & Clinton all supported the Secure Fence Act of 2006 because it represented comprehensive immigration reform to the publich. Sadly, true comprehensive immigration reform such as Obama’s Dream Act or McCain’s S. 2611 bill named “Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006″ were ignored at the time and have been all but forgotten in the Presidential debate of late.
For others the wall means a radical change in life. For some, it means their ancestral homes will be lost. For others, it means their downtown will be gutted by an unsightly, environmentally destructive barrier. For others, it means that some of our nation’s most endangered and rare species will no longer have a home. Others will lose access to the few wildlife refuges and parkland that they currently have along the Rio Grande corridor. Still others look at an 18-foot high barrier lacking sufficient environmental impact studies and see a natural disaster waiting to happen.
As Hurricane Ike takes aim at the Rio Grande Valley, my prayers are with the good people of South Texas. I pray that the hurricane will spare the lives and livelihoods of my good friends in Brownsville and Donna, Mission and Pharr, McAllen and Rio Grande City, Harlingen and Port Isabel, Weslaco and Alamo. I also pray that our entire nation would look at this area long enough to see the people on both sides of the river who will live in fear every year they lack levees but get walls.
A week after announcing its proposed policy to require golfers to pass an oral English test, the LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) officially rescinded this past Saturday, September 6.Since first proclaimed, the English-only requirement slated for 2009 drew criticism from many civil rights groups such as the Asian Pacific American Legal Center and lawmakers like California State Senator Leeland Yee.Yee planned to explore legal options to oppose the policy, stating that it would have violated workplace discrimination laws. Yee also pointed out that the stipulation could also affect blind or hearing-impaired athletes.
This proposed nativist requirement follows a year which saw two of the 145 international players on the tour win this year’s Majors.Lorena Ochoa of Mexico and Yani Tseng of Taiwan both impressed the world of golf with their performance on the women’s circuit this year.
The LPGA justified its new proposal by stating that several sponsors had voiced concern because they could not communicate with golfers during and after the tournament.Although the Tour withdrew its proposal to suspend players who did not demonstrate proficiency in English, it still hopes to strongly encourage English fluency among its athletes through the use of tutors and computer software. (http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/06/lpga-scraps-its-english-policy/)
Also this week, extralegal immigrant families who lost a family member on 9/11 were granted temporary legal status by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Friday, Sept. 5.The wives, husbands and children of the victims had been able to receive payments from the Victim Compensation Fund, but they were fearful to invest or share their stories because of their immigration status.
Last year two Congressmen from New York, Peter King (Rep) and Carolyn Maloney (Dem) introduced a bill to expedite the process toward permanent residency for these family members.The immigrants themselves, however, were wary of providing personal information to public officials for fear of deportation or detention.Now that DHS has granted them one-year temporary visas, at least some of that fear is gone.(http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/15/911-immigrant-survivors-move-toward-legal-status/)
At this morning’s Friends Meeting in Rochester, MN, one woman felt inspired to share these words.Its truth could not have more evident after a week which saw Minnesota sadly moving toward division and disunity.
The Republican National Convention was held in St. Paul this past week.George Bush, leader of the GOP and the nation, was noticeably absent from the Xcel Center, the first time in 40 years that the incumbent President was not present at his party’s convention (Von Drehle, David).An entire country looked to the capital of Minnesota to witness the celebration and inauguration of the Presidential race in earnest.After a graceful Democratic convention the previous week, everyone’s eyes were tuned to see how newly chosen Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin would compare to Obama’s running mate Joe Biden.The United States looked calculatingly toward St. Paul to see how the Republicans would celebrate their past successes, apologize for their past missteps, and prepare for a hotly contested Presidential campaign.
What the nation got was the worst kind of rhetoric.To watch Palin’s first speech as a Vice-Presidential running mate was to watch a vicious personal attack (New York Times).In a night that should have been full of celebrating, Wednesday’s speeches were concerned primarily with jabs and uppercuts.Rather than tout her party’s successes or laud John McCain’s many admirable qualities, she instead focused on demonizing Obama and Biden and the entire Democratic party. Her speech was less about accepting her nomination and more about rejecting commonality and unity.It saddened Republicans and Democrats and Independents alike to see an entire speech devoid of civil discourse, brimming with violence and overflowing with disunity.
While John McCain’s speech was graceful and stately, it was overshadowed for many by the speech Palin gave the night before.In stark contrast to the Democratic Convention the week before, the Republican speakers rarely used the words proud, together, thanks, and grateful.Whereas Hillary Clinton used her speech to bridge gaps and convert opposition into unity, Palin’s speech, and Giuliani’s before hers, widened differences, infused hate into the rhetoric, and filled the public sphere with negativity.It was sad to see a race which had been surprisingly cordial and civil take a decided turn for the worse.
Always webegin again toward the One…
Sadly, the protests of the Republican National Convention ended little better.While most demonstrators were peaceful, the presence of many physically and verbally violent protestors drained its potentially positive impact.Nonviolence is not simply the absence of violence but rather the presence of something positive.These protests, then, failed to live up to the high standard of nonviolence.Few were edified by the anarchists’ riots of Monday, and Martin Luther King, Jr. would not have recognized the Poor People’s March on Wednesday.Signs reading “Eat the Rich, Feed the Poor” and chants calling for the National Guard troops on downtown buildings to “Jump, Jump, Jump” would have horrified Gandhi or John Lewis (Minnesota Independent).
As Dr. King and all nonviolence philosophy holds, we are caught up in an inescapable network of mutuality.Therefore, violence towards some is violence towards all.And as Gandhi reiterated throughout his life’s work, the end is necessarily preexistent in the means.If we strive for peace, we must do it in peaceful ways.If we yearn for unity, we must seek reconciliation with those who oppose us.The protests of this past week were ineffective toward that end.When anti-war protests are verbally abusive or physically violent, then they can only help to create a more disunified world of violence.
So begins a new week.Hopefully this week Minnesota and the entire nation can begin to move away from the “us versus them” mentality.Perhaps we can abandon the idea of the “other,” a philosophy which has produced slavery, imperialism, colonialism, nativism, xenophobia, and war in all its guises.Always we begin again Toward the One…
This September 1st, it is only fitting to laud the accomplishments of the unnoticed and disenfranchised of America’s workforce – the Immigrant. In a nation that is still bent on building a wall and has popular public figures campaigning for mass deportation, immigrants still managed to excel in 33 of the spots on the American Olympic team. In a nation where immigrants legal and extralegal quake at the thought of ICE raids like that which detained more than 350 workers this past week in Laurel, Mississippi (New York Times), immigrants of undocumented parents (desparagingly referred to as “anchor babies” by American media) like Henry Cejudo worked tirelessly to upset the heavily favored Japanese free wrestler Tomohiro Matsunaga in the gold-medal match in Beijing (Navarrette, Ruben). With hard workers like these thankless millions, Labor Day means a day without work for most of us.
This past week, the national spotlight was turned to the perilous job of the window-washers in New York City. On Tuesday, August 28, two window-washers were narrowly rescued while a third plunged to his death in Manhattan. 49-year-old Robert Domaszowec was a Ukrainian immigrant who had received his dangerous calling from his father (New York Times). Much of the City’s window-washers are first or second-generation immigrants who quietly risk their lives day in and day out to improve the view of millions.
Like so many immigrants, their lives are largely invisible to mainstream American culture. Unless we read about a rare crime committed by an extralegal immigrant or watch an incendiary nativistic talk show on television, these workers who earn their Labor Day often work in underpaid jobs with scant hope for advancement. When they are noticed, it is often with disdain, xenophobia, or worse. This past week Tennessee changed its state law to allow pregnant inmates to be unchained and uncuffed during childbirth. This came only after a Mexican immigrant, detained in Davidson County on the charge of “careless driving,” was left handcuffed to the bed for all but a few minutes of her labor. The Sheriff went on record as saying this recently overturned policy was, “a little more than may have been necessary in every case” (New York Times.
On this Labor Day, it is vital we appreciate our nation’s success over the years and the people to whom we owe a deep thanks. At the risk of sounding repetitive and Kennedy-esque, our nation truly is a land of immigrants, new and long-established, coming and going. On Labor Day it is important to remember those who are not even allowed to join labor unions but still work 10-hour days in our factories and fields, houses and skyscrapers. This Labor Day let us say a prayer for our nation, that it may not forget those things which make it strong (such as immigrants) and that it may cease those things which weaken it daily (such as the wars of the past 40 years). If our nation would rise to its self-proclaimed status as world power, if we would acknowledge both the push and pull of immigrants coming to this country, if we would work to incorporate and integrate and empower every resident within our borders, then Labor Day could truly be a holiday celebrated by everyone in the United States instead of just those with papers.
Nat Stone recently published a short documentary detailing Representative Grijalva’s visit to Eloisa Tamez, one of the many private landowners in the line of the proposed border wall. While Grijalva’s visit is meaningful and important, it is sad that it should be unique and noteworthy. The majority of those who voted for the Secure Fence Act of 2006 which called for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico and then for the REAL ID Act which undoes our nation’s checks and balances by allowing the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security the authority to waive any and all laws obstructing immediate construction of a border wall – sadly, few of those lawmakers ever made the trip to the border region to see the impact it would have on these communities and, since we are all “tied up in an inescapable network of mutuality,” our entire nation.
Please research this pressing issue. Please contact those in the position to immediately change this sad comment on our nation.
Although this borderlands documentary was initially slated to be aired by Bill Moyers of PBS, Wayne Ewing’s documentary “The Border Wall” will now be screened at the Starz Denver Film Festival this November. Please visit the site, watch the trailer, and support like projects which serve to dispel myths about the borderlands, a border wall, and our neighbors to the South.
