Responding to an Act of War!

So.....

I hear a few voices raising this concern.  For me I see the movement of one State, presenting 49 other states with  a sense of  being covered.  If a vocal negative fringe (even if they are a voting majority) can make this action in AZ appear normal, it is not..  We are in the midst of fighting a race based agenda,  This agenda is highly negative and being pushed hard!  Some years ago some of us asked that the question of being considered illegal be raised up. We asked that Quakers rise up and say NO! 

 

Based on our  rich history and spiritual notions, it would appear a perfect fit for a Religious Society of Friends!  But, we and so many other " good spiritual folk have failed to note the danger have failed to act. We failed to  deal with the use of the word "illegal" which treat families as non people, it is part of a propaganda of of hate that has led us to a War!

 

 It is a war waged on different fronts but it is one conflict.  It began a few years back when ICE raided Red Hook in Brooklyn, New York and uprooted individuals and families, as they continue to do today. I read a tiny article and let it pass by.  I was at work a few weeks later after Christmas break and noticed a student who looked like he was in shock. "I'm from Red Hook" he told me, " And one day these people came in and took away half my neighborhood." He talked about people he had known as a kid who disappeared...and the world caught up in Christmas joy was silent.

 

True we really did not know then, four or five years ago what ICE was up to...but we do now! And we (I include myself are still silent).  WHY?  With the election of President Obama (who should put an end to these raids),  Racism rose to a new level of disgust... And again from folks who should have been raising hell, there a little noise, but really it was almost silent.  The nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the US Supreme Court brought out more unbelievable racist attacks.  Again where there should have been a response.....there was a lot of silence.  I see the passage and signing of this Arizona bill as just another piece in an expanding game plan. Other States will follow with repressive legislation.  If we, "IF WE" allow it to happen, then the negative will become the norm  It is important to note that while I as a person of color can raise my voice..I am discounted as having a self interest in the issue thus,  I and many others can be ignored and discounted.  This is a struggle that white allies have to lead.  It is a confrontation on values, and progressive and spiritual voices are not being heard.  It is an economic issue and we need to be clear that immigration is not the cause.  We need to be clear that people in survival situations are not sub-human, they are our sisters and brothers worthy of respect and just treatment!  It is an international issue, With people dumping on Islamic communities here at home and we again are mostly silent.

 

This is not a one moment issue. We and here I mean Quakers have to keep pushing every day.  We have to raise our voices with friends and neighbors, with co-workers and even if we only say, "I don't agree." (And I hope we say more) Write a letter to the editor, contact your City Councilor, Select Person, Town Meeting Member, State Rep, State Senator, They need to hear us.  White Quakers need to hold silent vigils against Racism, Especially if you don't have people of color in your community. We need to hold vigils against religious intolerance.

 

This is all building up for the next Presidential Election.  The racism will get thicker and sicker as we move closer to the election.  We have to move beyond  "white privilege discussions and training.

 

So, Yes my Friends let us move forward and raise our voices against this shocking, but not unexpected legislation from Arizona..   Let us deepen our prayer and energy for the struggle ahead.  Martin Lynn wrote in "Encountering the Light", "...the Peace Testimony is about relationships: about us in the Here and Now.  Peace is not the responsibility of others to establish somewhere  else or sometime in the future..."  We Quakers must be about this business now, and we must be serious about it. This is not a short term struggle.

 

Within the Living Mist,

 

Greg