I love a brown person. Brown is a color that is vilified by our current white supremacist president and administration. An administration that funds and commits terrible acts on the American people based on the color of their skin. Every day, I read a new horror committed at the hands of ICE officers reveling in their cruelty.
Families torn apart. Innocent immigrants deported to an El Salvador prison. Detention centers with inhumane conditions. Community members being disappeared. Fathers taken with young children are abandoned on the side of a road in a pickup. Leaders being pepper-sprayed in the face for asking questions.
Last night, I read about ICE officers running over the legs of a Hispanic detainee and not calling an ambulance for medical care. This happened a block away from where I taught for five years. It has taken less than a year for me to feel enraged but not surprised at this incident.
I love my stepson with Filipino heritage and preemie twin grandsons. As I visited them at the children’s hospital for two months, ICE sat waiting outside. I thanked the hospital security every visit for keeping loved ones safe. As I prayed over my 2 1/2 pound grandson who came into the world too early and small. I worried that my stepson and grandsons might get mistakenly picked up in the violent, racist acts committed by ICE agents.
Every trip to the grocery store, coffee shop, laundromat, hospital, and horse stables is choreographed around ICE agent reports. ICE is the true terror in our communities, not immigrants. A terror that was orchestrated by our racist president and administration to overfund an army of undertrained ICE agents running roughshod with black masks over their faces, carrying out their racist Hitler fantasies, with no legal repercussions to curb their abusive actions.
America is a melting pot, and our diversity makes us great. It is time to call out the hate, racism, and violence for what it is. I stand with my family and the communities of color. I’m ready to create a new future filled with equality and opportunities for everyone. I love brown people. Do you?
Laura Heldreth
Vancouver
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