I returned to the United States from working in a small space in Kurdistan, and from being off leash in Istanbul. Indeed I did. I kissed my dog, hugged my friends. I went to Haiti to do what Peacework Medical does so well there.
And upon my return I repeated the activities listed above with my dog and friends.
Then I decided to earn a paycheck again, and ventured to do this in the United States. But this would not be in just any American enclave. This place where I would warm my stethoscope would be the very sinus node of our country. For those who avoided cardiac anatomy, I'm alluding to where a heartbeat begins.
Specifically, I'm working in the Navajo Nation. Without argument, where America thrived in spirit and culture before it had this name. Before we had names, and lumbered in on horses and carts with too many things to name in one sitting.
There is a distinct irony to be working among our native population here in Arizona. Frequently needing an interpretor to communicate with my patients, who speak the indigenous Navajo language, and being witness to an ancient culture, reminds me that I'm a newcomer to this land. Times like these I feel like a foreignor in the United States. I remind myself I'm in Arizona at least once daily. It's an intriguing juxtaposition of time, place, and circumstance.
The irony exists in that our governor is currently wielding all the power of her office to deny certain other newcomers to our land any benefits of human decency, dignity, and opportunity. She has essentially blocked the federal "Dream Act" in its practical application here. It exists by law; it's just been skeletalized in how you could actually use it. For instance, now you can't get a driver's license if you're a part of this effort...she was able to unilaterally block this and other parts that make it impossible to follow through on the Act itself. Vindictive and petty.
This is the treatment for people who never walked into the U.S. on their own; their parents brought them in as children. It wasn't their choice to arrive, but it has been their choice to learn English, engage in the culture, and become a part of what is now known as the Dream Act. Simply put, to continue their education and/or serve in the military. Reasonable goals for any young person who would contribute to the land we all share and call our home.
So while the governor appears to have had relatives who may have escaped a potato famine, or been in a nearby country who may have shared a potato as they were departing for the New World, she herself forgets that we were not here first. And we were not particularly welcomed with open arms either.
This fluke of circumstance that has hoisted her to the top of the heap is fleeting, and her bias toward those in positions of less power in society is stunning. We should behave more like guests, and perhaps this should begin with respect for all constituents: the powerful, the powerless, for those who have been here since her family was planting seeds on European soil, and for those just learning to dream the American Dream.
But you might not seize this big picture of the value of inclusiveness and attention to history when your education extends to a community college certificate, as hers does. And the legislature she oversees overwhelmingly matches her at this level of higher learning. It's true: fewer than half of this state's lawmakers have bachalaureate degrees, something that could help with pondering the world beyond the lines drawn around your district. I can't make this stuff up.
If I did, it would be duplicitous, and I would need the authority of, say, congress to get away with that. And less of a conscience, perhaps like the men and women in the downtown Phoenix halls of Congress deciding to abrupt the futures of motivated young people. The very ones who want to legally go to college and explore beyond the Arizona counties they were born in.
They could make Arizona a better place for all of us someday, with ideas and innovative drive consistantly shown by immigrants in this land. Or they could be relegated to become short sighted, poorly educated citizens with dead end jobs. Education and opportunity make the difference. Divisiveness breeds hate. How can a governor willfully perpetuate a heirarchy among our citizens, and create a place where there is discrimination for its own?
And upon my return I repeated the activities listed above with my dog and friends.
Then I decided to earn a paycheck again, and ventured to do this in the United States. But this would not be in just any American enclave. This place where I would warm my stethoscope would be the very sinus node of our country. For those who avoided cardiac anatomy, I'm alluding to where a heartbeat begins.
Specifically, I'm working in the Navajo Nation. Without argument, where America thrived in spirit and culture before it had this name. Before we had names, and lumbered in on horses and carts with too many things to name in one sitting.
There is a distinct irony to be working among our native population here in Arizona. Frequently needing an interpretor to communicate with my patients, who speak the indigenous Navajo language, and being witness to an ancient culture, reminds me that I'm a newcomer to this land. Times like these I feel like a foreignor in the United States. I remind myself I'm in Arizona at least once daily. It's an intriguing juxtaposition of time, place, and circumstance.
The irony exists in that our governor is currently wielding all the power of her office to deny certain other newcomers to our land any benefits of human decency, dignity, and opportunity. She has essentially blocked the federal "Dream Act" in its practical application here. It exists by law; it's just been skeletalized in how you could actually use it. For instance, now you can't get a driver's license if you're a part of this effort...she was able to unilaterally block this and other parts that make it impossible to follow through on the Act itself. Vindictive and petty.
This is the treatment for people who never walked into the U.S. on their own; their parents brought them in as children. It wasn't their choice to arrive, but it has been their choice to learn English, engage in the culture, and become a part of what is now known as the Dream Act. Simply put, to continue their education and/or serve in the military. Reasonable goals for any young person who would contribute to the land we all share and call our home.
So while the governor appears to have had relatives who may have escaped a potato famine, or been in a nearby country who may have shared a potato as they were departing for the New World, she herself forgets that we were not here first. And we were not particularly welcomed with open arms either.
This fluke of circumstance that has hoisted her to the top of the heap is fleeting, and her bias toward those in positions of less power in society is stunning. We should behave more like guests, and perhaps this should begin with respect for all constituents: the powerful, the powerless, for those who have been here since her family was planting seeds on European soil, and for those just learning to dream the American Dream.
But you might not seize this big picture of the value of inclusiveness and attention to history when your education extends to a community college certificate, as hers does. And the legislature she oversees overwhelmingly matches her at this level of higher learning. It's true: fewer than half of this state's lawmakers have bachalaureate degrees, something that could help with pondering the world beyond the lines drawn around your district. I can't make this stuff up.
If I did, it would be duplicitous, and I would need the authority of, say, congress to get away with that. And less of a conscience, perhaps like the men and women in the downtown Phoenix halls of Congress deciding to abrupt the futures of motivated young people. The very ones who want to legally go to college and explore beyond the Arizona counties they were born in.
They could make Arizona a better place for all of us someday, with ideas and innovative drive consistantly shown by immigrants in this land. Or they could be relegated to become short sighted, poorly educated citizens with dead end jobs. Education and opportunity make the difference. Divisiveness breeds hate. How can a governor willfully perpetuate a heirarchy among our citizens, and create a place where there is discrimination for its own?
Welcome back, PB! It is good to read your words again, I could not agree more with the sadness of our current social environment. After I finish work today I am delivering a new laptop that my family purchased for a family with seven kids, all born in the US but the parents are from Mexico. They live in a tiny mobile home in rural Stokes county. I am proud of my church's efforts to make a better life for them, including help with school clothes and internet access. We are doing what the state of North Carolina cannot find the heart to do.
ReplyDeleteHey Julie D! Right, AZ does not have this problem all to ourselves; just leadership that seems to want to make symbolic examples of its bigotry.
ReplyDelete