A STARK CONTRAST: SUPPORT FOR AND HATING REFUGEES/IMMIGRANTS
Perspective from the 19th Hole is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write. I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf. The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie. And it is where you want to be on a golf course.
I have written in the past about immigrants, if only because all of us either are immigrants or have immigrants in our lineage.
Mine: On the maternal side, by grandparents emigrated to the United States from Norway. Paternal? Probably the same, though not as clear.
On this subject – immigrants – a stark contrast struck me this week.
- On Tuesday, my wife and I ventured to a park in downtown Salem to drop in on a Salem for Refugees picnic. It was great to be there and to show our support for this local organization in the town where we live, Salem Oregon. We saw families who came for the event under sunny skies, often dressed in their native garb.
- On Thursday, I read a column by David French in the New York Times as he characterized actions by those who hate persons other than themselves – in other words, they hate immigrants. Look no farther than Donald Trump to see someone who hates others. And, remember, like the rest of us, Trump himself comes from immigrant stock.
Here is more detail on the contrast I saw.
Salem for Refugees (SFR) is a local organization that exists to help those in Salem who meet the definition of “rufugee,” but who also could be called “immigrants:” The organization started in concert with a refugee support group in our church in Salem, Salem Alliance, then branched out on its own.
What does it mean to be a refugee or an immigrant?
“According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the official definition of a refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence.
“A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. Most likely, they cannot return home or are afraid to do so. War and ethnic, tribal and religious violence are leading causes of refugees fleeing their countries.”
SFR’s record of service is impressive: 2,000 refugees served; 250 volunteers; 12 Languages represented on staff; 10,000 volunteer hours donated.
Some may be surprised that there are refugee communities in Salem, Oregon.
Exact total counts of the refugee population currently living in Salem, Oregon, are not tracked, but local organizations like Salem for Refugees have helped settle hundreds of individuals from diverse global crises.
Refugees resettling in the Salem area come from regions impacted by war, violence, and persecution — from countries including Ukraine, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Congo Eritrea, Venezuela and El Salvador
On to the contrast. It emerged in a column in the New York Times written by David French.
Here is how his column started:
“I woke up (from a day of watching football on TV) to find that the internet was on fire over a tweet posted by Bo French (no relation that I know of, thank God), the Republican nominee to be Texas railroad commissioner. In Texas, the railroad commissioner exercises extraordinary power over oil and gas industry.”
Bo French posted on the internet that he did not believe what he saw when he attended a University of Texas graduation.
He attached a picture to the tweet that showed a group of young Texas fans in the crowd who appeared to be South Asian. They were wearing Texas gear, some sported cowboy hats, and some were throwing up the “hook ’em horns” sign.
Bo French’s “problem:” What he saw were not White Americans.
Then, this from David French:
“Before I go any further, you need to know that this is nothing unusual from Bo French. He’s one of a seemingly endless number of vicious bigots lurking within the modern right, but he stands out from the rest, even so.
“As Robert Downen wrote in Texas Monthly, French has ‘called for the rounding up of all Muslims.’ He also posted, ‘OK boys, it’s time to go round up all the Chinese and send them packing.’ And he has called for America to be like Rhodesia, an African nation every bit as gross, violent and racially repressive as apartheid South Africa.”
Put simply, Bo French is a bigot.
David French says he had two responses to French’s tweet. “First, the picture itself helps refute one of the most common arguments from the populist right — that immigrants from Asia and the global south can’t assimilate into American culture, that there’s just something about them that’s different from, say, the Irish or, in the president’s famous formulation, Norwegians, that prevents them from becoming truly American.
“I’m sorry, but when you’re wearing a cowboy hat, losing your mind at a college-football game and throwing up the hook ‘em horns sign, you’re doing a lot of things and one of them is assimilating.
“In fact, anyone who spends five minutes with immigrants knows and sees the power of American culture. It’s a prime reason people come here in the first place. They don’t want to replace Americans; they want to be Americans.”
Whites want to be White and for everyone else to be that color, too.
Count Trump among this number.
Technically, he is not an immigrant, but like the rest of us, he comes from immigrant stock. His grandparents emigrated from Germany and his mother from Scotland.
So, to Bo French and Donald Trump, I say this: Value all people as people worthy of respect and honor.
Hear the words of Ronald Reagan in his last speech as president.
“I think it’s fitting to leave one final thought, an observation about a country which I love. It was stated best in a letter I received not long ago. A man wrote me and said: ‘You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.”
Plus, the Bible speaks frequently about immigrants and refugees, often using terms like “stranger,” “sojourner,” or “foreigner” to describe displaced people, travelers, and outsiders. Across both the Old and New Testaments, scripture consistently commands believers to show them fairness, hospitality, and active compassion.
May we, as individuals, do the same.
