I love my country, the United States of America. However, I am increasingly appalled at the divisive attitudes espoused and encouraged by The Great Orange One, otherwise referred to on this blog as the DIC*.
Rather than hold up a sign and exhaust myself “marching” in the streets of our capital city, where these marches happen almost weekly with no results, I take direct and contributive action.
With hate-filled and misguided concerns about people in my community who practice non-Christian religions or who speak languages other than English…
…I step up to teach. I have volunteered this year to teach two classes for citizenship test prep — I teach U.S. civics and history with passion, fairness, and a bit of humor. I help people who will take the U.S. Citizenship exam, which is the last step toward taking the Oath of Allegiance.
My country was founded on the principles of freedom, justice, and equality for all. More than words — these principles form the core of my country’s Constitution. That is what I teach.
One of my classes was at a local Muslim Community Center. I specifically sought them out when there was so much hate directed toward people of the Islamic faith. Misunderstanding and prejudice has festered, especially since the horrific attacks of cowards on September 11, 2001. The festering hatred became more outwardly practiced once the Orange One took office.
Another class that I taught was more recent. I filled in for a friend who had a baby three weeks early. This friend was teaching a class at a local Hispanic outreach center affiliated with the Catholic Church. This class had 40 students in it, and it was taught mostly in Spanish.
Wow… what a challenge, but what fun! My 40 new friends were very forgiving of my attempts to speak Spanish and have it sound more like Italian. That is, when I did not know a word in Spanish, I substituted the same word in Italian. Most of the time, the word substitution was correct. A few times, it was not, and my students quickly pointed out my error, and we all laughed.
We learned a lot about each other. I believe my students learned more about the country to which they will soon take an oath of allegiance during a naturalization ceremony (i.e., being sworn in as a U.S. citizen.) I learned that my students — my neighbors — all want pretty much the same things as I do: our freedoms.
I closed the last class with this group last night with these words:
Al acercarse al juramento de ciudadanía, recuerde que uno de los privilegios de ser ciudadano estadounidense incluye el derecho al voto. Mediante el voto puede expresar libre y privadamente sus puntos de vista sobre nuestro Gobierno representativo.
Nuestros gobiernos–federales, estatales y locales–no son perfectos. Pero, como ciudadanos, no solo es su derecho, sino su deber participar del derecho más fundamental de la libertad, y garantizado de acuerdo con nuestra Constitución. ¡Felicitaciones!
For those who don’t read or understand Spanish, I said,
When approaching the citizenship oath, remember that one of the privileges of being a U.S. citizen includes the right to vote. Through your vote, you can freely and privately express your views on our representative Government.
Our governments–federal, state and local–are not perfect. But, as citizens, it is not only your right, but your duty to participate in the most fundamental right of freedom, and guaranteed in accordance with our Constitution. Congratulations!
Which brings me to the point of the subject of this post.
I posted this comment on social media. It received a few “likes.” I was not looking for outstanding applause. However, what shocked me was that I received three hate-filled messages from people who I thought were friends. These people’s downright hatred, fostered by the foment-of-the-Twitterverse DIC, frightened me.
Needless to say, I “unfriended” these people. I may see two of them because they live near me, and if I do, I will try to ignore them. If they will not be ignored, then I will defend my position, grounded on the full faith and commitment of my country’s Constitution. These losers are sad, but illustrative of what is happening in my beloved country since it lost its mind on November 8, 2016.
I seldom post about politics, but enough is enough. Bring MY open, free, thoughtful, caring, accepting, warm-spirited, and loving COUNTRY back!
Life is short: show your commitment to freedom and the rights of citizenship through action, regardless of race, religion, sex, age, gender, or sexual orientation.
*DIC: Destroyer-In-Chief