Cold As Ice

 There have been many events recently, in the world, the nation, the state, my city that constantly remind me of a quote from one of my favorite books: “…nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change…” - Douglas Adams, So Long and Thanks for All the Fish

With that, why can’t we actually just not be shitty to one another? I was sitting in a church today with my family listening to the readings. The overwhelming theme of the readings today boiled down to “Love thy neighbor as you love yourself.” I cannot help but to look over in the bench and see someone that I happen to know for a fact is a racist bigot and I just sigh in exasperation, because that person thinks they are a legitimately good person. 

Many things have happened locally this week. ICE has been very active in my city this last week. One of my best friends told me on Thursday that ICE took their dad earlier in the week. Yes, they released him later on in the day, but that doesn’t change the fact that they did it. My understanding of the situation based on what I’ve read is thus: A woman (the woman in question said this while being interviewed) that she noticed ICE following her as she pulled out of her driveway in a painter’s van. She stopped for gas. They saw my friend’s father and took him instead. Is there more to the story? Maybe so, maybe no. But that is my understanding.

So summary? Literally grabbed him off the street. No checks, no nothing. Hispanic? Yes. Legally here? Also yes. Presumed reason based on what I‘ve read? Looking Hispanic may have been enough. From what I read about the situation, they were actually following someone else in a painter’s van. She stopped somewhere, they saw him and decided to grab him. Based (presumably) on appearance alone.

                                                 Racial Profiling - A government or law enforcement activity that targets a suspect or group of suspects based solely on their race.

Again, is there more? Maybe so, maybe no. Imagine going to work and being followed based solely on what you are driving. Imagine (in this case) watching someone else get picked up after you stop, or even getting picked up yourself. Again, based on what you are driving. Just because your work vehicle puts you on someone’s radar. Why does a construction-oriented van do that? Statistics. And here's the part that really gets me: my friend's father wasn't driving a work van. He was trying to put gas in something like a blue sedan from a Korean manufacturer. You know, that thing that's a dime a dozen.

This grabbing people off the street based on how they look, well…That’s racial profiling to me.  That bothers me. That bothers me a lot. My friend is here legally. Has a legal status of some sort, but is terrified to leave their home in order to do things like go to work, go to the grocery store, make sure their child is taken care of. I learned a lot this week. Among the things that I learned is that “there’s an app for that.” An app to show where ICE activity is.

As I said to my friend, “I love that there is an app and it is helpful, I hate that we live in a world where that app needs to exist.” 

That doesn’t change the fact that my friend is scared to leave the house to live their life though. How does a country that purports “…liberty and justice for all!” end up in this situation? I realize that nothing about this country was ever perfect, and I realize that “liberty and justice for some” is what it always meant. I realize that we’ve made great progress getting closer to “for all” rather than “for some.” I understand that we still have a long way to go. I also think that there are too many people who think that our current capitalistic society and so called democratic government are stumbling blocks in that path. But are they really? Or is it just people (like myself, I’ll admit) that are sitting on the sidelines being silently outraged. I guess standing on the curb, filming and posting on social media in the hopes that their video will bring justice, or at least a clearer picture of events is at least attempting to do something.

Who is actually out here doing the work? Abbie Hoffman is gone. I don’t think there are many people these days in the mold of ‘60s and ‘70s activists that are willing to get their hands dirty? Typing into the void that is social media only goes so far. Even using ALL CAPS WHEN YOU TYPE ONLY GOES SO FAR, to be honest. I don’t know how the ICE protesting actually goes, but it SEEMS LIKE every time one of those makes the news, it ends up with some form of gun violence in the street. Sometimes the protesters are portrayed to be doing something foolish, other times not so much. I realize this is what the information age has morphed into…A constant stream of always on opinion pieces. I also understand that this is an opinion piece.

I hate that I am surrounded with people who think that immigration of all sorts, legal or otherwise, should be outlawed in all its forms.

I wish the system was much more fair to everyone. I wish that ICE wouldn’t just grab people off the street based on how they look. They should work within the actual rules set of the rest of the criminal justice system. Stop for an issue, check ID, run legit information, make a decision based on actual, established facts. Are there bad people that are crossing the borders? Yes. Do the good outweigh the bad? I’m going to venture to say also yes. But here’s the thing…We live in a world where the only things we hear about are the bad.

Why is that? Are there no good people coming to the country in a legal way? Are the good ones just quiet and not noteworthy? Are the bad ones only being used to push an agenda? My friend is a good person who appears to be here legally, so I know that part is true. My friend and their family appear to be quiet people who don’t want to make trouble. I don’t know. I wish there was a more modern and streamlined process for citizenship but I suspect that won’t even matter in the end if you still look like what they are looking for.

And that’s really the crux of it, isn’t it? 

What you look like.

How does the phrase go? You can’t judge a book by looking at the cover?

I could keep going, but I probably shouldn’t. I will say that my political views tend to lean more toward center of the road common sense. Please keep the guns and drugs out of my neighborhood (without turning it into a race war). If you’re going to take my money in the form of taxes, please give me decent roads to drive on. But we can’t even do that.

Oh mommy
I ain't no commie
I'm just doing what I can to live the good all American...Way
It says right there in the constitution
It's really A ok to have a revolution
When the leaders that you choose
Really don't fit the shoes

But here we are. I’m not preaching revolution or overthrowing the government, but I would venture to say that the system needs an overhaul. Across the board.