Friday, August 22, 2008

Op-Ed Encourages us to Embrace Our Common Humanity

http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/columns/story/1188471.html

While pandering persists, withhold votes

DURHAM - I picked up the paper on a recent morning and felt I was in a time warp. I grew up in North Carolina back in the 1950s, when state Democratic leaders were proud to ally themselves with the racist policies of the day. And yet there it was -- the Democratic candidate for governor, actively leading the charge to ban the admission of "illegal" immigrants to state community colleges, in spite of advice that such a ban is neither legally required nor wise.

That very same day, I saw television ads sponsored by Beverly Perdue's campaign, and that of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Kay Hagan, touting their commitment to target "illegal" immigrants. Apparently some in the Democratic party and two of its lead candidates feel this is an opportune time to jump on the anti-immigrant bandwagon. They hide behind the excuse that they are just enforcing the law. This is a familiar and tired refrain.

History has not been kind to those who proclaim the virtue of following immoral and unjust laws. We look back with a sense of shame and disbelief on the Trail of Tears and the devastation of the Cherokee people, the Jim Crow disenfranchisement of African-Americans and the internment of Japanese-American citizens during World War II.

That these policies were in fact lawful at the time does not make them any less dishonorable. We make the laws of our land. Someone deemed "illegal" today could easily become "legal" tomorrow; in fact we have made this shift many times in our history.

All of us were immigrants at one point, with the exception of indigenous people and nations and those forcibly brought here for slavery. Newly arriving immigrants, whether "legal" or not, often come because of government policies, in this case NAFTA. The free-trade agreement has devastated the economies of our neighbors to the south.

Throughout our nation's history, those in power have passed laws and manipulated public opinion to demonize immigrants. Meanwhile, they have used immigrants for their labor, often in inhumane conditions, to create wealth for "legal" citizens.

The state Democratic Party, Perdue and Hagan know all this. They must know they are pandering to our worst instincts, appealing to our fears of people different from us, rather than to our common humanity.

History also shows that to remain silent is to be complicit. I made the decision that I will not vote for or give money to any Democratic candidate (or any candidate at all) who targets immigrants as a focus of his or her campaign.

To that end, I drafted a letter stating these intentions. I realized that others might want to sign on. In less than a day, 50 people asked to add their names.

In an atmosphere where all that seems to matter is winning, it is easy for Democrats, like their Republican counterparts, simply to revert to weighing the pros and cons of what will bring votes. To those candidates, our power lies in simply withholding our votes and our money. In a close election, our refusal to vote may well make the difference.

We are tired of a politics of fear, for it has no future in the global community we are becoming. What we really want, in fact what we yearn for, is a Democratic Party, any party, and leaders with the courage to actually lead, to help us envision a country, a world, where we are guided by the understanding that we are all human, we are all in this together.

(Tema Okun is a teacher who worked for many years with community-based nonprofit groups.)

Letter to the Democratic Candidates of North Carolina

Note: more than 58 people in North Carolina have added their names as signatories in support of this letter. If you want to add your name, leave a comment.

Further note: This is an organizing space, not a space of public debate. No anti-immigrant and/or hateful comments will be approved.


We are writing to let you know that those of us signing this letter will not be voting for nor giving money to any Democratic candidate who includes in their platform their intention to target “illegal” immigrants.
The campaign ads of Beverly Purdue, Kay Hagan, and the Democratic Party, have all made a point of their commitment to targeting this population. Purdue, in her zeal to join the anti-immigrant bandwagon, has been a leader in the recent decision by the N.C. Community College system to ban admission for undocumented immigrants in spite of advice that such a ban is neither legally required nor wise.
Our so-called leaders insist that their stand against “illegal” immigration is based on their respect for the law, failing to point out we make the law. Someone we deem “illegal” today can easily become “legal” tomorrow; in fact history shows that we have made this shift many times. History has not been kind to those who proclaimed the virtue of following immoral laws – we look back on Jim Crow, Japanese internment, to name just a few, with a sense of shame and disbelief. The proponents of those policies were also proud proponents of following the law.
It is too easy to be a leader who preys on the conditioned racism of communities who have been well taught to fear those who are different. A politics of fear has no future in the global community we are becoming. We wish for a Democratic Party, any party, that would have the courage to help us envision a country, a world, where we are guided by the understanding that we are all in this together.