"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Paul to the persecuted at Philippi (2:5-11)

18 July 2019

Why 'Send her back' is the uncross-able line

Last night at a rally in North Carolina, the president's fan club chanted "send her back" in reference to a member of the United States Congress.

Let that sit for a moment.

Ilhan Omar is a naturalized US Citizen.   She came here as a child seeking asylum from an unmanageable and war-torn situation.  She was raised here.  This is the only country she really knows.  She has gone through the process and become one of us.

One of us to whom the First Amendment applies, the right of free speech.

She holds opinions which I do not, by and large, share.  If she were running in my district, I would not likely have voted for her.  But she holds those opinions as her right, she offers them according to her right.  If it is okay to chant "send her back" because of her opinions, then we are saying one thing loud and clear...

Naturalized US Citizens do not hold the same rights and natural-born US Citizens.  If we don't like them, send them back.  No expiration dates.

If Rep. Ilhan Omar, whose job as a member of Congress is to seek out problems and yes, tell the government how it should be run, cannot critique the United States, then no naturalized citizen can.  Every person at that rally who was pumping a fist and shouting "send her back" was telling every naturalized citizen of the USA, the First Amendment is not for you.

In the interest of full disclosure, my son is a naturalized US Citizen.   This is his country, since he was still in diapers.  He has his critiques of it, too, but it is his home.  Every person shouting at Ilhan Omar last night was shouting at my child.

If the First Amendment does not apply to all of us, it does not apply to any of us.  Donald Trump himself made that clear.  If you don't "love this country" in the way that he defines it, he says you're unAmerican.

UnAmerican.  Let that sit for a moment, too.

Those of us who know our history know how that word plays out.  How the McCarthy era sought out dissenters and those who were connected to them, in a spirit of paranoia this country has rarely matched, called them unAmerican and stripped them of their rights.  Trump is old enough to remember that.  How'd that work for us, Mr. Trump?

No mistake.  Every one of those attacks is an attack against me and my family.   Every one of those attacks is an attack against you and your First Amendment rights.

This is more than Trump's personal xenophobia.  This is an open attack on the heart of our nation.

America.  The ball's in our court.


1 comment:

  1. Updating here to include my dismay with those who have responded by stating that my son's First Amendment rights are based, in their minds, on the views he would offer, including but not limited to being "grateful" for this country. Nobody has ever asked my white native born sons to be "grateful" in order to be here and be heard. I wish people would just listen to themselves once in a while.

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