The Muslims and our Constitutional crisis
Janelle Meraz Hooper
Janelle Meraz Hooper
I make very few comments about political events on my blog. Not because I don’t care but because there are so many good writers all over the country who are much better than I am about analyzing what’s going on and what it all means to our country and the world. With this comment, I’m going to break that pattern.
I don’t know how we’re going to fight our way out of the problems our new President has created for our country in just a few days. The man still thinks he’s running a television game show and is shooting from the hip, making arbitrary Hire! Fire! decisions with no knowledge of law, history or the facts. Long after I’ve forgotten the complicated details of our president’s betrayal of our Constitution, I’ll carry with me little mental clips of what I saw and heard:
On TV news, during this time of our Constitutional crisis, I saw the ACLU lawyers who flooded our nation’s airports that were so crowded they had to sit or lie on the floor in their suits. They held handmade signs that said (I’m paraphrasing): Are you Muslim? Have you been denied access to our country? Talk to us. We can help you. We are lawyers. Many other lawyers, all over the country, signed up to be called, at a moment’s notice, if they were needed. Even more got out and marched. This is my America!
I heard the chants in front of our local detention center that rang out loud enough for the people inside to hear: SAY IT LOUD, SAY IT CLEAR, REFUGEES ARE WELCOME HERE! DO NOT BE AFRAID! This is my America!
The Chinese say it is the year of the Rooster, but in my mind, it will forever be the Year of the Marches. We’ve had marches for women’s rights, marches against the Muslims being detained, marches by scientists defending our EPA regulations…and there will be more. This is my America!
When I read that Trump was quietly signing legislation at 1:00 AM while we slept, I got a vision of what he reminded me of: the Wizard of Oz fumbling and mumbling behind the curtains. Recklessly pulling levers and pretending he knew what he was doing. Like Oz, he is just as clueless.
But, most of all, I will always carry in my heart the quote from Madeline Albright, President Clinton’s Secretary of State, who came to this land as a Czech refugee as a child. She said, “If Trump has a Muslim registry, I will sign-up.” I hope we all sign up. During World War II, the Nazis occupying Denmark ruled that all Jews would wear a Star of David on their clothing, so the Nazis would know who they were. The next day, in protest, the streets were filled with Danes wearing the Star of David on their clothing. They showed us how to play this deadly game…and win.
God Bless America!
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