Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 5 October 2006 — Page 23

The Muncie Times • October 5, 2006 • Page 23

WITNESS FOR JUSTICE

A Person of Distinction - Not Extinction

Personal honor was a fundamental value in my upbringing. However, honor was not about arrogance or conceit; it was about humility, honesty, and respect for oneself and others. We were to avoid boasting, yet there was no question that we were to be proud of our family heritage and ancestry. We were taught that we are a people of distinction. Our parents recognized that social systems would tear us down, so they worked extra hard to instill a sense of history and dignity in us; children who were constantly told that they were not as smart or important as the Anglo children in our schools and neighborhoods. As a child, there were times when the discriminating practices in our segregated schools seemed insurmountable, but our parents modeled the belief that we could make a difference in our own destiny and so we did. My grandfather, many generations removed, was born in 1601 in the New Mexico Territory. Yes, before the Plymouth Rock landing. Yes, before 1776. Yes, further back than many American History books account for. Yes, it was when the land was part of Mexico

before being claimed by the United States. The truth is that many of us did not cross the border, rather the border crossed us. I am proud to claim this ancestry and refuse to be accused of “being a problem to American society.” When discussing immigration we should review the history of the settling of this land now known as the United States. We must not forget that the land was the homeland of our American Indiana brothers and sisters and stolen by European invaders, ending authentic civilization for thousands of people. We should not forget that much of the western region of the United States region was Mexico. These historic realities are often discounted because our cultural elitism declares that we are entitled to anything we want. Disparaging descriptions of immigrants, such as murderers, rapists, criminals, free loaders, leeches, illegal aliens, are thrown around without regard for their humanity or the potential for inciting hatred and neighborhood warfare. Generation after generation wages war; however, these days the wars are not confined to nation against nation.

Sadly, the war now being waged against immigrants within the boundaries of the United States is resulting in fear and hatred of one racial group against another. What is most distressing is that some of the authors of such venomous remarks are well known “Christian” leaders, inciting fear and hatred is certainly inconsistent with the teachings of Jesus who came to teach love, compassion, and human understanding. Encouraging suspicion rather than trust is most definitely contrary to

Bernice Powell Jackson

Jesus words written in the most commonly read book in this country, The Bible. Claiming a special preference for one race above another absolutely contradicts the basic Christian message of “loving our neighbor as ourselves.” I will not be told that people who look like

me are the problem of American society. We are the American society. We are people of distinction, not extinction.

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