I am overwhelmed by reports coming from the Southern border of the United States of children, screaming and crying “Mami!” and “Papi!” as they are torn from their parents’ arms. As a parent, I cannot imagine the insufferable grief these parents are experiencing even as I write, or the deep and lasting scars on the children. I know that I am not alone in my anger and disbelief at this inhumane and completely avoidable policy.
While the U.S. has often fallen short of its highest ideals, the practice of forcibly separating children from their parents as they cross the border has put this nation’s government on par with a long line of oppressive governments that have made the world worse, not better.
Some policies, such as this one, are so egregious, so shocking, that they garner quick condemnation from all corners of the globe and from across party lines here in the States. Other policies are quiet, persistent, insidious. Such policies have worked to create a permanent underclass in this nation. Homelessness—the result of massive cuts in affordable housing and decades of failed policies to provide a health and social safety net for all Americans—has become so entrenched in the national landscape that many believe it impossible to solve. Furthermore, homelessness is not colorblind; it disproportionately targets people of color, as our own research has shown (for more on the SPARC Initiative on racism and homelessness, click here). Yet, because the homelessness epidemic was created by bad policies, it can surely be solved by good and just policies. Just as the policies current being enforced at the U.S. Mexican border are avoidable, so are the policy decisions that have created rampant homelessness.
What do these two crises have in common? A belief that there is an “us” and a “them.” Citizens and immigrants. The makers and the takers. Those who deserve the best this country has to offer and those who do not.
When we think of people as “the other,” it is easy to stereotype, generalize, and de-humanize. It is easy to create public policies that privilege some people over others, that benefit some and condemn others to outsider status.
Against this backdrop of crisis at the border and crisis in cities across America, I have been watching the World Cup matches. Teams from around the world have come together, setting aside differences in language, politics, and religion. Players of all skin colors, all heights, all hairstyles and body art, have come together to show the world that sport can level difference. That it is possible to set aside conflict and come together in mutual respect. That it is possible, if we can see one another as fully human, we can begin to imagine a better world.
That there is, in fact, no them. Only us.
If you too are outraged, here are some things you can do:
- Speak out about the injustices happening at the border right now. Here’s a list of organizations working on this.
- Join the fight to end homelessness. Educate yourself. Volunteer. Donate. Advocate. Here are some organizations doing very good work. Especially work for racial equity as a solution to homelessness. Click here to learn more.
- If you pray, pray for justice. But do not stop there. Also take action.
- Consider your own spheres of influence—the sectors of your life, neighborhood, and community—where you can be a force for good. Start there.
It is easy during these divisive times to buy into the vitriol, to fight hate with hate. But we know that hate can never conquer hate. Only love has the power to do that. So be a force for love and goodness in the world around you. Then get up tomorrow and do it again.