Saturday, August 19, 2017

Troubling thoughts


A lazy Saturday. That’s what I thought when I woke up this morning, and it was true for the day. I stayed in bed as long as Sophie would let me, dozing and thinking about what I’d do once I got up. Like fix myself corned beef hash—a favorite breakfast—and make the pasta salad I’ve been thinking about for a week. And, of course, write my thousand words for the day. I did all that and had a good, hard nap. I hadn’t slept well during the night, and I dreamt during my nap of my nephew and his kids and then of running a coffee house—my, how the sixties sometimes come back to haunt us. Or maybe the domestic violence of the sixties was talking to me.

Highlight of the day came when neighbors said they were coming for happy hour. They even brought the wine and some really good cheese, and we had a lovely visit, a happy hour that was truly happy.

But all day troubling thoughts were beneath the surface of my activities. While Europe suffers through terrorist attacks which unite countries in a determination not to be beaten, we are a divided country with Nazi sympathizers and white supremacists marching through our streets. And our president makes their hate okay to display in pubic. In seven short months, America has gone from being the leading world power to being dismissed as a joke….and a bad one at that.

What kind of animals honor the Third Reich? They must see the pictures of skeleton-like people, humiliated and demoralized to the point they lack humanity, lined up waiting to be shot. Of holocaust camp victims. I have read the theories about fears of white genocide, men feeling disenfranchised and wanting to return to the day “when blacks knew their place,” all the excuses for this current white supremacist behavior. None merit a moment’s thought.

Equally as bad to me are the people who claim the counter-protestors are anarchists and communists. Many are people of faith, religious leaders who fight violence by silent protest, and others, everyday citizens who, quaking with fear, feel called upon to do protest evil. Lord protest them.

I am troubled also by the frenzy to erase all signs of the Civil War. I’ve read those theories too—the symbols are offensive, they weren’t erected to honor Confederate heroes but to frighten blacks. When Six Flags amusement park forgets history and takes down not only the Confederate flag—it was the battle flag and not the official flag of the Confederacy—but also the flags of Spain, Mexico, France, and the revered Republic of Texas, the madness has gone too far.

What matters is not how things were in the past but how we treat people today—and we’re doing a damn poor job of that, with racism, immigration laws that tear families apart and target innocent citizens, gender bias that would govern our bathroom behavior, laws that cut funding for the least able among us.  There is an evil force at work, dividing us, making us less than we are.  Please. Let’s recognize evil and terrorism where they are, here today, on our streets and in our laws, and fight those forces, not tilt at statues that are no more than windmills.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

We do not tear families apart. They can be together in their country of origin.

judyalter said...

I posted the above comment reluctantly because I think it is callous and racist. Where, I would like to ask anonymous, do you think you or your ancestors came from? Unless of course you're Native American. We all have countries of origin. And I hate that comments like this are hidden behind the veil of anonymity. But in the spirit of recognizing all voices, I approved the comment.

Anonymous said...

Oh, one more thing, we do not have time to target "innocent"illegal aliens. The local jails keep us so busy, that there is no time to even do work force enforcement. It's simple really, even though you are here illegally, you have nothing to fear, if you can just stay out of jail.

judyalter said...

Anonymous is like a dog with a bone. Apparently a police officer or perhaps ICE. I hope he/she doesn't target innocent people, but we hear of people being deported for ancient voting mistakes, minor traffic tickets and the like, while major criminals are not caught in the web of deportation which seems primarily aimed at people of brown skin. They are not our only immigrants. I realize the law is the law and it has to be followed, but it could be done with compassion and common sense that is not shown equally in all cases.