Our “Hidden” Neighbors
by Robbie Pinter
Skin.
It’s one of the largest organs of the body—it’s the one
that holds the rest of the body together, literally. It
protects the human body, keeps that body at the right temperature,
and it allows people to have a sense of touch. Some think
the immigration issue is a matter of skin’s color. If your
skin is buffed sand it’s better than chestnut-hued but not
as good as porcelain, according to some was of thinking.
Skin tone goes a long way towards deciding those who are
accepted “aliens” in our country, versus those who
are not.
Immigration
wasn’t always an issue connected to skin color. My husband’s
German ancestors and my friend’s Irish ones were essentially
the same color. Even though those people came to America
from Europe soon after our Civil War, they were also seen
as a threat to the country’s founding “core” of Anglo-Saxon
Protestants. These are the very people who current anti-immigration
organizers favor—they entered the country legally. Sadly,
even these immigrants were not wanted. They were characterized
as trash
that only polluted American soil.
Yet
even these people, once judged as inferior to those already
living in America, were offered entry, even if they were
offered little else. Andrew Wainer, writing in a blog entitled
“God’s Politics,” offers this statistic: “Of the 12 million
immigrants who passed through Ellis Island, only
2 percent were denied entry to the United States.
Upon arrival, the vast majority of immigrants
— most of them poor and uneducated — spent several hours
at Ellis Island before they were legally admitted to America”
(7/26/10). This small inconvenience is nothing like the
prejudice facing today’s incoming immigrants who are not
granted access to America’s services. The 2010 Tennessee
legislature introduced measures as diverse as prohibiting
immigrant mothers from receiving prenatal care, stopping
community college students who were immigrants, and disallowing
some immigrant children from registering their birth certificates
in TN.
The
current immigration problem stems from illegal immigrants.
Certainly that’s a difference from 19th Century
immigrants. But why are so many in our country violently
opposed to immigrants entering America? It’s a complex
issue, to be sure. But somewhere in the complexity is the
same reality we faced before: the visible illegal “aliens”
don’t look like us, or look like that “core” group of Anglo-Saxons
Protestants who founded the country. The great difference
is color.
Skin.
It’s a powerful divider, probably because color provides
a visible, albeit superficial way to separate people. People
of the same skin color seem to want to be with others who
look like them. Many Americans want to see the skin tones
that are safely fenced in by our natural boundaries: the
Atlantic, the Pacific, and especially the Rio Grande and
its environs. But healthy skin is dynamic. It breathes
in order to keep alive all the internal organs it protects;
it doesn’t shut the organs out, it just lets in what’s outside
its boundaries in order to keep the body alive. If we shut
off what lies right outside the boundary of our skin, we
would die. This organ that covers the body also allows
for what’s inside to grow without stagnating.
Fortunately,
Tennessee is not stagnating. According to a report
by the Perryman
Group, “if all unauthorized immigrants were removed
from Tennessee, the state would lose $3.8 billion
in economic activity, $1.7 billion in gross state product,
and approximately 25,919 jobs, even accounting
for adequate market adjustment time.” Although Tennessee
may not be stagnating, we don’t seem to be growing without
problems. For help, we could look towards a recent time
when Nashville experienced social conflict—during the Civil
Rights movement.
Nashvillian
John Egerton wrote Speak Now Against the Day to document
the importance of the racially-charged 1950s and 60s, the
generation before the Civil Rights movement in the South.
Segregation by skin color was normal in the 1950s in Nashville.
It took the good faith and leadership of local leaders to
work with this issue, then to speak up against it. One
key issue was leadership. In any social movement, there
are always leaders, people who see a problem and offer a
road map to work on it. Implicit in Egerton’s work is the
question, “what social issue do people of conscience need
to address in each generation?” It makes me ask what should
Nashville “speak now against?” To me, unfair immigration
laws top that list.
Nashville
is still a forward-thinking city, and we are fortunate to
have has local leaders who will address the controversial
issues that divide us. Many people not only believe that
solutions exist to these seemingly entrenched social problems,
but they act on their beliefs.
Among
the many who are “speaking against” unfair immigration practices
in Nashville are two men who happen to be father and son
and they are offering ways for Nashville to work with the
immigration issue, not against. Through different venues,
they are asking us to come together and think, act, and
sometimes pray about this issue that is dividing our city.
Jim Zralek, long-time community activist and former priest
will be addressing the immigration issue as one related
to faith. Beginning Sept. 14, Jim will facilitate a weekly
discussion entitled "Crossing Borders: Migration, Theology
and the Human Journey" as part of the national faith-based
curriculum from Just
Faith.
Stephen
Zralek, Jim’s son, is president of the Nashville grassroots
group, Nashville
4 AOU (Nashville for All of Us). Stephen’s letter on
the web page describes the group’s purpose: “We are an independent,
diverse community coalition that challenges each other’s
perspectives and informs and shapes public policy to promote
a productive, just and welcoming Nashville for all.”
The letter specifies that it wants to “serve as a table
to host the conversations necessary to identify and address
new issues relating to prejudice and exclusion in our community.”
Skin.
It covers the human body. It doesn’t divide. Nashville
has a Civil Rights legacy to live up to. This year, as
Nashville and the rest of the world honors the student sit-ins
that were so instrumental in the first part of the Civil
Rights movement, we can remember that our community has
a choice. We can stay entrenched in the way we used to be,
or we can find a way to honor that which has the potential
to divide us. Instead of looking at the issue from already
closed minds, maybe it’s time to see what middle ground
there is. Consider discussion. Consider attending the
workshop or taking the survey that N4AOU posts on its website.
There are many ways to act, and looking for the middle ground
is a good place to start.
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Gypsy woman at Ellis Island (Photograph by Augustus Sherman)
Immigrant Woman ca. 1920s
Immigrants ca. 2010
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