By Nina Masters

I came to Arizona knowing the immorality and injustice of SB 1070. I left understanding the individual lives torn apart by this law, the children living in fear of men in uniform dragging their parents, uncles, or grandmothers away from them before their very eyes. This trip cemented my conviction that those in this country without documents are human beings. They are simply trying to make a better life for themselves and their children.

Pursuing the American Dream, the promise of hope, they are not criminals and do not deserve to be criminalized as part of a white nationalist agenda. Hearing the heart-wrenching accounts of children my age who have been through more fear, injustice, and suffering than anyone should endure makes me ashamed of the country that I live in. I have realized that by not actively helping these humans—humans who are treated like animals – I am complicit in the racist actions of Sheriff Arpaio, Russell  Pearce, and all of the men and women like them.

I came to this trip nervous, not having experience in community organizing but only having a background in research on the anti-immigrant movement.  I would have been lost without the guiding ideas of the other students on this trip—students who have dedicated years to fighting racism, discrimination, and upholding social justice.

I honestly feel like the most affecting part of this experience was not walking through the desert near the border, seeing the inside of the Florence Detention Center, or even debating Joe Arpaio: it was witnessing these perspective-altering experiences with a group of like-minded individuals who had already implemented change in their communities.

I was incredibly inspired by the motivation of those around me, the ways in which they tackled problems and never gave up. In car rides between our visits, the group always brainstormed and proposed ways to bring our new knowledge back to our communities, to organize and educate and ultimately defeat this unfair law on the opposite coast.

These five days changed me in a very profound way. I cannot go back to New York and be content doing nothing. Witnessing the pleas for help from sad-faced teens, hardened adults, and young children, who know to run and hide when the police appear, provoked the deepest feeling of guilt I have ever experienced.  We brushed in and out of these people’s lives, spending only five days in this harsh, anti-immigrant climate. These innocent, well-meaning people struggle every day to live out the American dream. They may be lacking documentation but their motives are in the right place.

Five days ago I expected to see the “political climate” in Arizona and assess how communities were reacting to SB 1070.I didn’t think I would come home different, deeply compelled to end these people’s suffering.  I cannot forget the stories, the tears, and the faces of those whose lives have been broken by the militarization of the border. And now I will not stop until I have exhausted all of my power trying to prevent this country from getting away with scapegoating the newest “outsider.” These people are not aliens, they are not animals, and I cannot let them be treated as such.

The thick piety and self-righteousness, the assumed privilege and power of that culture was once again on public display in D.C. Saturday as hundreds of thousands of “disaffected” and “aggrieved” whites and their proclaimed leaders sought to re-stake their inherent claim to God’s blessings in a nation allegedly subsumed by “darkness.”  “Darkness.”  They would never understand just how revealing were their own racially-tinged words.  They would never comprehend how deeply offensive was their rancid attempt to hijack the mantle of Dr. King and a movement grounded so deeply in faithfulness grown out of suffering and death.

Christianity in America has always been of two realms—that of the dominant culture, the “Christendom” ever-interwoven with assumed and maintained power, and that of the peoples of faith who daily engage in the struggle for life, dignity, freedom, hope, community, equality, and justice.  That the first wish now to be seen as the second would be laughable were their angst—and their shallow openness to religious and racial demagoguery—not so dangerous.  As their real or perceived power continues to erode in the face of dramatically changing demography and global power realignment these  “Christendom Christians” will seek to maintain their status at any cost.  Reports of their reactions in locales across the country already fill the daily news, “restoring honor” they believe is due them.

In 1885 Josiah Strong, a Congregational minister credited as a founder of the Social Gospel movement in the U.S., published Our Country—an aptly named tome for our own day in the din of the tea-full uprising, where white-held “We want our country back” placards prevail.  While the Social Gospel movement has been understood (and criticized) as a historic expression of liberal, reformist Protestantism, its own racial edges belied the historic drive of Christian dominance, when the world would “…enter upon a new stage of its history—the final competition of races, for which the Anglo-Saxon is being schooled.”  Even the reformists could not escape the pull of Manifest Destiny, the thread of piety, politics, and power that would reflect their honor of a God made in their own image, the thread bared again last Saturday in Washington.

Faithfulness turns dominant worlds upside down.  It is in the underside of history, where the impact of the dominant is most felt, that God is most resident.  Among the destitute, the hopeless, the homeless, the landless, the outcast, the oppressed, the struggling.

Beckoned or not, God is present there, far too engaged to have been Beck-oned to Washington, to hate-filled airwaves, to “safe zones” of white folk, to disingenuous political platforms.  May it ever be so.

Unfortunately, the response by school officials made it clear that they were not ready to acknowledge the demographic changes in this small city of 68,000 with minorities making up a third of the population. Sticking to the status quo has become the practice of the school district leaders.

This election cycle brought new hope for changing up the political environment. Many in the Somali community were encouraged to watch two respected people in their community step forward and run for the school board in order to help shape more inclusive educational values.

These role models are a sign of astounding progress for the refugee community and a signal that these individuals have a lot to contribute to all the residents of Saint Cloud.

Although the candidates didn’t win school board seats this time around, the number of votes they received really motivated the community at large.

For a majority of the refugees in the community, this was just the first or second time to practice their American democratic rights and for one of the candidates, Mohamed Yusuf, it was a dream in the making.

Losing the election in no way hinders the efforts of these tireless community leaders in advocating for the inclusiveness of Somali children and filling the achievement gap in Saint Cloud public schools.

Originally published on Buzzflash on Wed, 08/25/2010

The Christian Action Network, a long-time anti-gay/National Endowment for the Arts organization is back on the scene with ‘Islam Rising,’ a film, it claims, ’exposes the dangers of radical Islam to the Western world.’

Months before the current controversy over the building of an Islamic community center a few blocks from Ground Zero brought a host of professional anti-Muslim bigots out of the woodwork, a small group, long associated with a bevy of Religious Right causes, was marketing its own brand of Islamophobia. Welcome to the world of the Christian Action Network.

Throughout the past two decades, the Christian Action Network CAN), founded in 1990 by Martin Mawyer, has been a relatively marginal, yet occasionally effective, Religious Right enterprise. During the early-nineties’ epic congressional battles fought over the conservative movement’s efforts to de-fund the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the CAN received a fair amount of notoriety. These days, the Christian Action Network is involved in what they would probably describe as an even more epic battle: The fight against the Islamization of the Western World.

“CAN has always operated on the fringes of the Religious Right,” Rob Boston, Senior Policy Analyst for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, told me via an email. “Its budget is about $1 million a year, which is pretty small by Religious Right standards. Over the years, it has focused on various issues – the NEA, gays and now Islam bashing. Martin Mawyer tends to alight on whatever issue he thinks will be most lucrative.”

Back in the day, the most memorable stunt the Forest, Virginia-based Christian Action Network came, as Jack Fritscher wrote in an essay called “What happened When: Censorship, Gay History, & Mapplethorpe”, when Mawyer “tried to set up a display of sexually explicit ‘offensive’ art by [Robert] Mapplethorpe, [Andres] Serrano, and mystic-photographer Joel-Peter Witkin in the Capitol Building. Mawyer was banned from the building before [it] opened, and then was closed down by House Speaker Thomas Foley after fifteen minutes of fame in another location. Mawyer claimed he was being censored; Foley ruled Mawyer was violating house rules on lobbying in the Capitol.”

Mawyer thought he had it all figured out: flashing a few Mapplethorpe photos or pictures of Serran’s “Piss Christ” would convince legislators that tax-payer money – through the NEA — was  supporting this work, and voila, the end of the NEA.

To continue reading this article visit Buzzflash.com

By Efrain Ramirez

I never thought that I had enough water in me to be able to cry everyday. It really felt like I was mourning the death of someone. This trip to Arizona hasn’t been an educational experience; it’s been an emotional rollercoaster that took a heavy toll on me. It was one of the hardest experiences of my life. This trip really started years before, even before I was born.

My mom is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. She crossed the border 20 years ago. Before that, she had a baby girl who died a few days after birth and from that point my mom knew she didn’t want to have any children in Mexico. She wanted a better future for children – children who hadn’t been conceived yet. She has crossed the border three times in her life. The last time she crossed was in 2001. We went to Mexico to see her family for the first time in 10 years and since then she hadn’t seen her family until two months ago via Skype.

This trip has reinforced what I have learned from my mom and from Spanish new media. I wanted a firsthand experience; I didn’t want to hear any more stories. However, this trip has hit me in my heart. From the meeting with Isabel Garcia and hearing about deaths at the border really moved me. I knew about the deaths but seeing those crosses, some of them saying ‘Desconocido,’ it really struck me.

After that, heading to the border and seeing the environment that my mom went through, that moment struck me. My mom had to endure this. It gave me a greater sense of appreciation for her sacrifice, what she had to do to cross that border just to give me a better life. This appreciation was reinforced when we went to meet with undocumented residents. To hear all the stories of different people and what they have gone through, really made me think of my mom. I saw my mom’s story.

I spoke to them and talked about my mom’s experience and what she did. I told the people I met that they shouldn’t regret coming to this country despite the hatred. I said, ‘one day, when your children grow up, they will tell you thank you, thank you for your sacrifice and your hard work. Keep fighting for your children cause they will be grateful and to cherish every moment with them. Don’t regret your decision and thank you for what you did for your children.’

I wanted to give them a little support because I felt this is all I could do at the moment.

When I was at the Florence Detention Center, I couldn’t look at the people being detained. I couldn’t because I didn’t want the people to view me as a person who came to look at them as if it was a zoo. They were looking at me because they knew I was Latino and they were talking about me. I just didn’t want to stand there and see them; I wanted to set them free, free from that hypocritical, tyrannical prison.

This trip was hard on me. After the first day, I started to regret coming on the trip. I just wanted to run back home. This feeling kept following me. I just wanted to go back home and tell my mom, ‘thank you for everything, your sacrifice was worth it.’

Photo: Immigrant Rights Protest at the Broadview Detention Center in Illinois. Credit Carrie Sloan via Flickr.

The good news is we can take a stand against the greening of hate.

Some already have. Take for example the community members in the Bronx who were fed up with anti-immigrant bigotry and exposed a powerful New York foundation for funding the anti-immigrant movement. The Weeden Foundation was confronted by over 100 community members in front of its Manhattan headquarters in a protest organized by the Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC). According to the group’s press statement, members were protesting “the Weeden Foundation’s funding groups that scapegoat immigrants for ecological problems.”

Today, hundreds of environmentalists are taking a pledge to resist the growing infiltration of their movement by white nationalist forces, including those under the umbrella of the John Tanton Network. Organizations such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), NumbersUSA, Progressives for Immigration Reform (PFIR), Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS), Carrying Capacity Network, Apply the Brakes Network and Negative Population Growth (NPG) are scapegoating immigrants for rising pollution, urban sprawl, carbon emissions and even the BP oil spill as a way to build support among environmentalists for repressive anti-immigrant legislation.

It’s time for all of us to take a similar stand, and share a vision that acknowledges immigrants and refugees as partners in movements for ecological and economic renewal.

The urgency of the climate crisis means there is no time to lose.

Watch the video, take the pledge, and pass it on.

It’s good for America. And good for the environment.

That some twenty percent of the population (a significant increase since January 2009) think the President is a Muslim is but one indicator of the breadth of this fight and the success of those waging it.  Religion, race, birth status, and the “legitimacy of citizenship” are at the very heart of the recent surge in attacks on Obama, and are at the core of the battle not only on immigration, but also on the “status” of all peoples of color.  Making the President “The Other”—the One unlike the “us” of the dominant white Christian population—makes it so much easier to make “The Other” of all peoples of color and of all those of differing religious beliefs.  Welcome to 1840 America.

In this retro-country immigrants and refugees are the economic and cultural enemy.  African Americans are largely condemned to incarceration, economic undergrounds, and violent death. Poor people are unseen.   Muslims are treated as terrorists.  “They” are collectively “The Other,” as is the President himself.  When the hatred and bigotry sticks at the top, it poisons the whole of the body politic.

The sordid collection of nativists, bigots, racists, and white/Christian nationalists who seeded this battle some years ago now enfolds tea partiers and Republican “leaders,” fueled by the Rupert Murdoch media empire.  The late Sam Francis, a white nationalist associated with the Council of Conservative Citizens, could not himself have imagined the speed by which this battle has been mainstreamed.   When Senate Minority Leader McConell panders to Islamaphobes by lamely stating that he takes “the President at his word” that he is a Christian, the message is clear: the President says he is one of “us,” but who knows for sure?

Some thirty years out from a majority population of color, white fear is palpable and increasingly dangerous, and efforts by the now-dominant culture to preserve its power and place threaten the very foundations of the country.  Birthright citizenship? Gut it.  Religious freedom? Restrict it.  Rights of the minority? Quash them.  Equal opportunity?  Limit it.   Whither Barack Obama in the days ahead, crafting and creating “The Other” is but prologue to the coming decades of potentially crippling political turbulence.  With “The Other” as foil, economic, social, racial, and natural crises are easily ignored, and a political culture of inaction becomes the stagnating norm.  Welcome to 2010 America.

For the past two years the writers on Imagine2050 have relentlessly advanced analysis, discussion, and debate on the emerging crisis of American identity as manifested particularly in the intractable political firestorm over immigration and race.  Warning flags have been posted.  Still, “The Other” is increasingly defined and defiled.  And the country is paying dearly for it.

What’s disconcerting about this isn’t the growing, media-perpetuated confusion about the President’s faith, but the negative connotations  asserted in this poll. Of those 18% who believe Obama is Muslim nearly all disapprove of the job the President is doing. With the debate over the proposed mosque in lower Manhattan and the protests that went on over the weekend it’s clear the anti-Muslim sentiment is on the rise. Muslims are being demonized and this perception of Obama as a Muslim is shroud both in racism and religious intolerance. The wide racial divide can clearly be seen with the number of whites whose perception of a Muslim Obama rose from 11% to 21% in just over a year, yet there was virtually no change in blacks’ views on the President’s religion or faith.

Quite simply a white president wouldn’t be questioned about his or her religion. John Kennedy’s Catholicism wasn’t questioned nor was Bush identifying as a Methodist. Why then, if not race, is President Obama questioned about his faith?

A somewhat small percentage  claim President Obama mentions his faith too infrequently or that he relies too little on his religious beliefs when making policy decisions hence their confusion. Yet  those polled also said they are opposed to too much political involvement on the part of churches. Close to 61% say it’s important that politicians have strong, agreeable religious beliefs.

Are we to guess that by “agreeable” they mean Christian? This poll represents a continued and blatant racial divide. President Obama shouldn’t have to continually defend his religion or his race. Nor should the irrational fear and prejudice against Muslims be tolerated.

The lawsuit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center on Aug. 12, 2010 alleges that Mississippi authorities took a newborn baby from a Mexican immigrant mother and placed the child with a white couple. The SPLC also has appealed an earlier gag order that prohibited the mother and her lawyers from speaking publicly about her family’s ordeal.

“Mississippi officials and hospital workers conspired to steal Cirila Baltazar Cruz’s baby by inventing false charges against her – allegations she couldn’t refute because she doesn’t speak the right language – and then told her she couldn’t talk about it,” said SPLC Legal Director Mary Bauer. “This was an outrageous violation of her most fundamental rights, and we’re deeply concerned that other mothers in Mississippi might be subjected to the same treatment.”

According to a Time Magazine article last year, the hospital deemed her an unfit mother in part because her lack of English “placed her unborn child in danger and will place the baby in danger in the future.”

This is not an isolated incident. A similar case just came to a head last month in Missouri where a mother detained on immigration charges had her baby adopted against her wishes to a couple while she was incarcerated. Fortunately, an appeals court overturned the adoption proceedings deeming a parent’s rights to raise children “a fundamental liberty.”

Both of these cases involve health care employees, attorneys, educators, and judges who unlawfully or immorally facilitated the separation of these children from their biological mothers and into the arms of adopting couples. Both cases warn of an ugly trend: the privileged, with the help of racist institutions and broken policies, are preying on poor women of color – specifically women who are vulnerable due to their immigration status.

Even the proclamations of the adopting parents are disturbing. In the Missouri case the couple was able to plead their story in the media long before a court with any authority on the matter could hear the case.

Their argument was essentially that they could provide a better life for the child. One of their points was ironically almost identical to that of millions of young undocumented students currently fighting for a path to citizenship: they didn’t want “their” child to return to a country he’d never known with his birth mother. The key difference is these millions of students are right now fighting to keep their families intact, not tear them apart.

And well-intentioned though these couples may have been initially, they must have realized at some point that they were complicit in a conspiracy to deny a mother her child, and blind to the fact that citizenship, nationality, or wealth don’t determine one’s worth as a parent.

In the end, the so-called good intentions of all involved came out more like cruel, self-serving paternalism.

History is full of such tragedies. Perhaps the most infamous involved Australian Aboriginal children who were systemically stolen from their parents by the government and placed with white families for over one hundred years. All in the name of “protecting” the children. It will forever remain a shameful stain on Australia’s history.

In a broader example, the State of Oregon recently reported that the rate of child abuse is about the same for white families as for minorities, but that Native American children are in foster care at nearly six times the rate that their population would suggest and African American children are twice as likely to be in care. The culprit? Widespread institutional bias. And there’s no reason to believe this problem is confined to Oregon.

It’s an extraordinarily powerful method of dehumanizing people – breaking up their families, taking away their children. It’s clear that attacks on immigrants in this country now include doing just that. It must be stopped.

The utterly shameless Republican assault on the Manhattan mosque/community center for partisan political advantage is sheer bigotry.  That these foul bigots go virtually unchallenged is equally shameless.  Spineless Democrats, instead of fighting back and using the stirred-up controversy as a basic civics lesson, have run for cover once again, as they have so often when tea-stained Republicans, nativists, and demagogues raise their voices or shake their fists.  New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is among the few politicians who took strong leadership on the issue, standing up to the bigots, and affirming the City’s rightful position of support for the Islamic center near Ground Zero in his elegant remarks delivered on Governor’s Island August 3.

There is little wonder that Republican (and some Democratic) bigots are winning on so many political fronts these days: the political will to counter their pandering to a mob mentality seems to have been sucked out of Democrats as both parties vie for November votes.  The harsh reality is that there is little visionary and credible leadership in either party at a time when the country is in dire straits and hungering for direction, and for serious and effective action to address the myriad challenges before us.  Congress is in shambles; the Administration is locked down and locked out; forward movement is negligible; and no one is stepping out to lead courageously.  The mood in the country is sour once again, and ripe, thereby, for bigots and demagogues to prevail, especially if left unchallenged.

In this regard, the need for progressive, grassroots organizing is critical in communities across the nation.  The day after Barack Obama was elected we forcefully stated the obvious: that the commitment to organize had to begin anew, that the challenges facing us were not going to be resolved in Washington.  They have not been; they will not be.

There is anger building again across the country.  The economic crisis continues to take its toll in countless communities and homes. Jobs are still being lost, many never to be recaptured.  The Manhattan mosque debacle is but one more indication that the nativist epidemic has spread and continues to spread far and wide, engulfing immigrants, refugees, people of color, and believers outside the still-dominant culture.  Spineless “leaders” in such circumstances are of no value.  With the bigots they enable by their silence, they should themselves join the ranks of the politically unemployed.

It would take us back to a time when all other people, besides those of European descent, were not good enough to be first class citizens or worthy of attaining any status in this country.

I’m sure that after ratifying the amendment in 1866, lawmakers did not intend for it to be overturned.  Advocates for changing the landmark bill are afraid of how immigration will affect the demographics, and are desperate to control the racial composition of the nation.  I’m not an expert in immigration or Constitutional law, but I can give some reason as to why this is happening and why it’s a bad idea.

Opponents want to continue debating the issue of immigration and not actually solve it.  The last couple of years, politicians have dragged their feet on the issue and not done anything meaningful to fix it. Rather, they rant and rave of how immigrants do this and that. Most of their talk is not substantiated by anything but rhetoric.

If politicians in favor of altering the 14^th Amendment say that it will solve the issue, then we really should question their motives. According to the Immigration Policy Center, ending birthright citizenship would not stop undocumented immigration: “Since children born to undocumented immigrants would presumably be undocumented, the size of the undocumented populations would actually increase as a result of the new policy.”

If the 14^th amendment is altered what will that mean for you and me and those who have citizenship? It will mean that you will have to prove that you lawfully reside in this country. A driver’s license will not suffice, and your birth certificate will not help you.

The Immigration Policy Center’s new report says the burden to average Americans would be significant:

Eliminating birthright citizenship would impose a significant burden on all Americans who would no longer have an easy and inexpensive way to prove their citizenship.

• If simply being born in the U.S. and having a U.S. birth certificate were not proof of citizenship, Americans would have to navigate complex laws to prove their citizenship.  Other than a birth certificate, most Americans do not have government documents that establish U.S. citizenship.

• Some Americans would have to prove they derive U.S. citizenship through one or both of their parents – a process that can be difficult for even experienced immigration attorneys.  In some cases, whether one’s parents were married or unmarried at the time of one’s birth makes a difference in determining citizenship. In some cases the gender of the U.S. citizen parent can affect the determination.

• All American parents—not just immigrants—would have to prove the citizenship of their children through a cumbersome process.

Messing with the constitution is not the best way to change things; it will actually do the opposite.  But these individuals pushing for changes to the 14^th Amendment really want to keep immigrants and other persons of color suppressed with limited rights; even if it means changing the constitution.

We’re at a critical juncture for housing policy in this country: millions of Americans are homeless and tens of millions more are on the brink of economic collapse.

The 2010 Update focuses public attention back on the #1 reason for this housing mess: the Federal Government’s divestment in affordable housing programs and deregulation of the housing market. Most importantly, it helps people understand these complex issues and provides a framework for turning this situation around.

Download the update here!

In the next few weeks WRAP will be releasing a set of housing demands and launching our housing rights campaign. Stay tuned! If you or your organization is interested in joining or learning more about the campaign, call Paul or Michael at 415-621-2533.

And please, support our work by donating now!

To order hard copies of the update, send a check payable to:

Western Regional Advocacy Project
2940 16th St., Suite 200-2
San Francisco, CA 94103

1 Report = $10
10+ = $8/each
50+ = $5/each

WRAP is grounded in the experiences of those who live with and work on the frontlines of homelessness and poverty.  Its mission is to expose the root causes of homelessness, challenge unjust housing and economic development policies, and fight the criminalization of poverty.

Photo by RBruceMontgomery

When Amanda Standerfer was the Library Director at the Helen Matthes Public Library in Effingham in downstate Illinois she was disturbed by the snarky comments of some library patrons who were offended by kids in the children’s area speaking Spanish.  She got remarks like “Who are they?”  “Why aren’t they speaking English?”  And her favorite: “Why are THOSE kids using OUR library?”  So Amanda won a grant to launch a program in 2007 to help people learn about their own neighbors called “I am an American.”

Effingham is a town of 12,384 people.  In the 2000 census those people were 98% white, 1 % Hispanic, and the remainder a mix of Asian, African-American, Native American, or a combination of two of the above.  Because it sits at the intersection of two major Interstate highways, I-57 running from Chicago to the very southern tip of Illinois and 1- 70 running from Utah to Maryland, it pitches itself as the “Crossroads of Opportunity” but it is most famous for the 198 foot tall steel cross that you can see from the highway.

Using the funds for public outreach, Amanda created two panels of five people each made up of people not born and raised in the United States to tell their own stories.   She started with questions like “What do you like best about the United States?” and “What do you miss most about your old country?”  Then the audience at the library could ask questions.

Starting with people she knew from the medical center and recommendations from the school counselors, Amanda recruited a doctor from Sri Lanka who had been a long time resident of Effingham and a woman newly arrived from Ukraine who had been a mail order bride.  She had another doctor from Egypt, people from Columbia, Nicaragua, and Mexico, and a corporate wife from China.  The Chinese woman was in Effingham because her husband worked for a major multinational corporation, and he had been posted to Effingham for a few years.  She came to the library often with her two daughters.  During the question time, someone asked her how she can take two daughters back to China because of its “one child policy.” The woman answered that it will not be an issue, because her daughters were Americans.

Amanda says that the library is the place to educate the community.  During the panels, people got to ask, and answer, many questions.  Some were serious, and some were as simple as the foods they eat.  One woman said, “I saw you buying something at the market, but I was too shy to ask you what it was and how you cook it.  Next time I see you there, I will ask!”

The library is built on three values:  Technology – access for everybody, Resources – putting people in touch with resources to be better parents and neighbors, and Culture in the Community.  This program was cheap, easy to do, and promoted understanding of cultures in the community.  It gave them excellent public outreach and was such a success that when the grant ran out, the local Rotary stepped up and instituted an International Food Fair to keep the conversations going.

When I asked Amanda if the snarky remarks in the children’s section had gone down, she said, “We are very intolerant about those attitudes.  The library is run with property taxes and everyone pays property taxes.  Even the renters who are only here a little while, a lot of their rent goes to the landlord’s property taxes.  So everyone is welcome at the library because everyone is paying for it.”

Even though the worst parts of the Arizona SB 1070 law are temporarily blocked, Republican extremists continue to push anti-immigrant legislation.  Last week, more Republicans called for a repeal of the 14^th amendment and birthright citizenship.

But what’s even more disturbing is how many Democrats are silent to this crisis.  Take, for example, my home state and Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC).  In June, three young women went on a two week hunger strike near Hagan’s office in Raleigh.  They wanted our senator to support the Dream Act, legislation that would give hope to 1.5 million undocumented young people, many of whom are students.

One of the activists, Rosario Lopez, came to the United States as a minor.  She grew up in this country and it is her home.  Like many, she wants to be a citizen, but Sen. Hagan refuses to help by co-sponsoring the Dream Act.

In my city, we also tried to contact Sen. Hagan and invite her to our rally against the anti-immigrant Arizona SB 1070 law on July 29^th.  Since we received no answer, my actor friends and I performed a street theater scene outside her office in Charlotte.

In the play, two characters named A & Z (representing Arizona) arrest three people named “BILL,” “OF,” “RIGHTS” for not having the right papers.  Then Lady Liberty enters and tries to convince Arizona to change its ways.  You can watch our trip to her office on YouTube: “Inviting Senator Hagan.”

As you will see from this video, Lady Liberty issued a formal invitation to Sen. Hagan, and her assistant received it.  However, Sen. Hagan did not come, and her office did not send a representative to our rally to listen to our play and speeches.  Again, Sen. Hagan is silent.

Yes, this past year, Democrats had a full plate–the stimulus package, health care, financial reform, and so on.  However, Pres. Obama has said that it’s a “moral imperative” to fix our broken immigration system.

What can we do?  First of all, we cannot give up.

The North Carolina activists (the Dream team) have formed a website with nine concrete suggestions for action.  Other hunger strikes have taken place, including one in front of Sen. Feinstein’s office.  And over twenty activists staged a sit-in at the Hart Senate Office Building in D.C. last month.  Twelve were arrested, including Rosario, and charged with “disorderly conduct.”  Soon they will be on trial.

We cannot wait for tomorrow.  Millions of people are facing challenges everyday, and they have waited long enough.

Recently, I heard several civil rights activists talk about the sit-ins and marches that took place during the 1960’s.  I marveled at the courage they had fifty years ago.  Would I have been strong enough to do the same?

Then last week, I had the chance to meet the heroes of my own day, 2010: the North Carolina Dream team.  These dedicated young people, and those across the country, should inspire us all to do something.

And someday in the future, maybe we’ll be able to tell this story to our grandchildren.

That we didn’t stay silent.  That we acted.  That we changed.

While these despicable attacks on Islam and on mosques stretch from coast to coast, so do counteractions by Christian and Jewish religious leaders and communities who themselves have taken to the streets in large numbers to rightly condemn the bigotry.  National Christian leaders need to step more boldly into the fray and make it clear that there is no room for anti-Islamic bigotry in the U.S.; quietness on this matter is not an option.

The attacks on Islam and on mosques are a reminder that the stain of bigotry in American Protestantism has not faded away.  Catholicism was once its primary target, and Judaism has most always topped the list, giving rise to the Klan, the Know-Nothings, and an array of ill-founded, ill-grounded “Christian” nationalist and white nationalist manifestations.  To this day it’s easy to start a heated debate anywhere in the country on the matter of whether the U.S. was founded as “a Christian nation,” or just how far the guarantee of freedom of religion really stretches.  It does not, according to the bigots, stretch to Islam, to Muslims, to mosques.

The current “Christian” fervor against Islam is theological heresy.  It is counter to the very foundations of the Christian faith, and an affront to the One who created all.  If bigotry, hatred, and hysteria is what  these “Christians”  have to offer when it comes to professing, practicing, and living their faith within the context of a religiously diverse nation, they are a lost lot.

For the past three decades the primary terrorists in the U.S. were home-grown, self-proclaimed “Christians.”  The heretical Christian Identity movement, grounded in vile and vicious racism, anti-Semitism, and deadly hate violence in the 1980s, the “Christian Patriot” militias of the 1990s, and the array of “Christian” nationalists preparing for a religious Armageddon today posed and continue to pose a greater threat to communities and country than any mosque in our midst.  Need we always be reminded that the most deadly act of domestic terrorism occurred in Oklahoma City but fifteen years ago, perpetrated by an American fanatic?

It is no small irony that last week the Taliban executed ten members of a Christian team doing medical work in Afghanistan.  While bigots would lift this tragedy up as an example of the dangers of violent Islam, it is—to the contrary—an example of how Christians might live out their faith, not condemning Islam, not proselytizing but treating others justly and willing to die doing it.

If the bigots would take time to meet their Muslim neighbors instead of protesting their presence and their right to worship where they wish, as they wish in this country, and embrace them as Children of Abraham, they might claim once again the boldness and strength of their own Christian faith.  Until then, they’re just bigots and nativists.

If you’ve watched the network news lately, you’ve probably seen coverage of the proposed Mosque and Islamic Cultural Center near the former site of the World Trade Center towers.

A huge amount of prime time space has been given to protesters of the Mosque, a group that includes Tea Party members, anti-Islamic activists and, sadly, the Anti-Defamation League or the ADL.  The ADL is a long-standing Jewish civil rights organization that released a statement in opposition to the planned Mosque and Cultural Center.

While the ADL’s statement is disappointing to say the least, it shouldn’t overshadow the Jewish community as a whole that has come together in support of the Islamic Cultural Center by writing blogs, letters to the editor and organizing rallies and press conferences.

Listen to imagine2050.net’s latest audio blog to hear more about the response of Jewish leaders and others to anti-Islamic sentiments across the country.  The freedom of religion is one that defines us as Americans and it’s a sign of dangerous times when people are willing to give it up in the name of bigotry.

In the beginning, the main issues for the Tea Partiers were big government and government spending, but as time goes on the issue of immigration has turned into a focal point for the movement.

One faction of the Tea Party that is not afraid to associate with nativism and xenophobia is the Tea Party Nation, led by Tennessee lawyer Judson Phillips. Earlier this week, the Tea Party Nation sent out an email to its 35,000 members asking them to post their “horror stories” about undocumented immigrants.

The group has set up a new message board forum specifically for its members to post these stories. The email told supporters to post any pictures/videos that show “illegals or their supporters doing outrageous things (like burning the American flag or putting the Mexican flag above ours, or showing racist posters.)”

Tea Party Nation organized the first Tea Party National Convention earlier this year in Nashville, Tennessee. The opening speaker was nativist Tom Tancredo, who told the crowd that “People who could not even spell the word ‘vote’ or say it in English put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House.”

Tancredo went on to say that President Obama won the 2008 election because, “we do not have a civics, literacy test before people can vote.”

Another group that attended and spoke at the convention put on by the Tea Party Nation was NumbersUSA. NumbersUSA’s founder and CEO, Roy Beck, spoke to the convention crowd about immigration. In 1997 he spoke at the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC) national conference. Beck denied the claim until the Center for New Community published a picture of Beck at the event. The Council of Conservative Citizens is a white supremacist organization that has referred to African Americans as “a retrograde species of humanity.”

Phillips argued in a FOX News interview that he wanted the undocumented immigrant “horror stories” because, “there are two sides to this story.”

Is remains unclear how these stories will be verified or if they are actually about undocumented immigrants. It seems unlikely that the storytellers would even be sure of the citizenship status of the person they are talking about.

Phillips and the Tea Party Nations claim they are trying to tell both sides of the story, but it’s clear they are really trying to stir up anti-immigrant sentiments. This type of hate-mongering has no place in the immigration debate.

UPDATE: Last night another person filed papers to run for the school board position which means that Daniel Schruender is no longer running unopposed.

Daniel Schruender, the director of publications and information for the California chapter of the Aryan Nations 88, has filed papers (scroll to page 58) to run for a school board position in Rialto, California. Schruender announced his plans on his blog in which he stated, “Today, August 2, 2010, the Aryan Nations has moved from talking about running for political office to actually doing it. Many of you read a previous post on the forum, and an article in the last issue of the Quarterly where I said I was considering it. I decided to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak.”

Schruender’s group, Aryan Nations 88, is one of many spin off groups descending from the original Aryan Nations, which was widely considered one of the country’s leading white supremacist groups. Based on a large compound in Hayden Lake, Idaho, Aryan Nations was founded by white supremacist Richard Butler. Butler also happened to be a pioneer in the Christian Identity movement, a religious movement that believes salvation is solely for whites, that people of color are soulless, and that Jews are the spawns of Satan.

The Aryan Nations lost their compound and most of its membership after losing a lawsuit brought forth by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Since the suit, the group has split into many factions. The faction that Schruender is a part of is based in Chillicothe, Ohio and allegedly has 14 chapters across the country. The national director of this faction, Paul Mullet, attempted to buy a plot of land in John Day, Oregon to create a new compound. His plans were scrapped however when mass protests were organized by the town’s residents.

Schruender’s election bid is not the only recent Aryan Nations activity in Rialto. In April, the San Bernardino Sun reported that the Aryan Nations members passed out packets containing flyers inviting residents to join them in celebrating Adolf Hitler’s birthday. In a nearby town, the group passed out packets containing racist language which stated, “happy Easter to all you … from your friends at the Aryan Nations.”

Schruender’s blog makes no effort to disguise his racist beliefs. His picture for the blog shows him standing in front of a large swastika flag. He also has links to racist websites such as “Jew Watch” “Chimp Out” and “Chimp Skin.”

As of today, Schruender is running UNOPPOSED for the school board position! The deadline for anyone wanting to file to run against Schruender is this Friday, August 6.

Dan Stein, FAIR

If you consider yourself committed to civil, immigrant, and human rights and have ignored the white nationalist agenda of the organized, anti-immigrant movement, Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) president Dan Stein’s recent assertion on the 14^th Amendment to the Constitution ought to get your attention.

In a Wall Street Journal article on the mounting political attack against birthright citizenship, Stein stated, “”We should not allow language from 1868 to enslave our thinking…in the 21st century.”

“Enslave” our thinking?  “Enslave?”  Stein would speak of one of the most important Amendments to the Constitution—guaranteeing citizenship to African Americans from 1868 onward—as “enslaving” our thinking?  His choice of words is utterly mind-boggling, and scathingly revealing. Stein has unmasked, and what we see once again is the true face of the white nationalist agenda of FAIR, The Tanton Network, and all their small-minded allies “who want their (white) country back” from immigrants, African Americans, and other peoples of color.

The rising attack on the 14^th Amendment by the white nationalist, anti-immigrant movement is spreading and growing.  It has now gained the supportive musings of Senator John Kyl (R-AZ) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) . Graham recently echoed the rants on the Amendment by the infamous Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce of SB 1070 notoriety, and by Kris Kobach, the Kansas attorney whose fingerprints are all over local ordinances and state laws restricting immigrant rights through his association with FAIR’s “legal” spinoff, the Immigration Reform Law Institute. Many think it folly that these forces would consider a serious assault of this order on the Constitution.

Five years ago fifty organizers and leaders of civil and immigrant rights groups, labor, and community organizations gathered in Chicago to discuss the future terrain of the anti-immigrant movement. At that gathering significant discussion on attacks on the 14^th Amendment unfolded. In the years since more warnings have been sounded. Some chose to dismiss the warnings; others have taken them quite seriously. There are no more warnings.  The reality of this debacle is upon us. One ought not think for a minute that the white nationalist movement is not serious about this fight. Or that the assault is folly.  It is not.

Dan Stein did not have a “slip of the tongue” when he spoke with reporters from the Wall Street Journal last week. Unbelievable as his statement is, it reflects the white nationalist “truths” that drive FAIR, The Tanton Network, and the entirety of the anti-immigrant movement.  It is the warped “truth” that this is a Euro-centric nation, and that African Americans, immigrants, and other peoples of color are not welcome and have no place here. That the language of 1868 still serves as the bedrock of citizenship and national identity is a gift to be celebrated, preserved, and fought for in the 21^st century.  To do any less is to abdicate to those forces that would, indeed, return us to the horrid days when the 14^th Amendment was but a dream to Africans and African Americans—and countless generations of others born to citizenship in this land.

The bigot who painted the graffiti could have chosen any other grocery store in town, but painting those sentiments in front of a Somali-owned grocery store clearly represent the hateful attacks on Somali residents and all of the – largely peaceful – residents of Saint Cloud.

This is not the first time a Somali-owned grocery store has been vandalized in Saint Cloud or that the community has seen race-based issues flare up. From time to time over the last decade this has been a traumatic experience for the Somali refugees in Saint Cloud.

The thing the bigot who wrote those  two words “GO HOME,” did not understood is that the Somalis in Saint Cloud are here to stay, and they plan to make change and create prosperity like any other resident in Saint Cloud . Hate mongers can write as many things as they like, but that will not in any way deter or change the status of the Somalis. They are either refugees or citizens, and this country is their home country

The “Go Home” messages have become a trend recently towards the Muslim community in Saint Cloud.

In December, a man posted a cartoon with an offensive depiction of prophet Mohamed on electrical poles near Somali groceries and even though police later identified the culprit, Stearns and Benton county attorneys determined the images were protected under free speech.

In March, a Baptist pastor from a local church placed a paid advertisement in the St. Cloud Times questioning whether Islam threatens America.

In May, the US Department of education announced it will investigate St. Cloud public school district over allegation that the district largely ignored racial harassment toward Somali high school students

A man from new hope pleaded guilty to posting threats to hurt Somalis at a cultural dance at Saint Cloud State University.

Taking into account all the above, many community members feel that a few disgruntled individuals are damaging the good image of the greater community. They truly believe the law enforcement has the capacity to catch up with them.  But every new occurrence of hate portrays the entire community in a negative light.